Waiting On You
by periodic-prose
Summary: Athrun thought he was just having a average day, about to have a drink at a average cafe. What happens when he meets a not so average waitress? [Athrun&Cagalli, Kira&Lacus]
1. Flying Bagels

**Well after a nice little one week break, it's back to writing for me. This time, new story, new plot, same characters, same weird style curtosy of yours truly. And now I'll shut up so that you can read. **

* * *

Athrun frowned at the annoyingly cheerful sign, displaying the words "CLOSED FOR THE WEEK!" in bright red letters. His favorite coffee shop had just declared a one week vacation, leaving him tired, hungry and coffee-less.

"If I don't get caffeine in my system... there's no way I'll last the rest of the day..." He muttered with a sigh. All things considered, at the moment he was running on about 3 hours of sleep, a saltine cracker and God's good will.

He began walking down the street, dressed casually with his left hand in his pocket, the right carrying around his briefcase, which among other things, contained a laptop, books and a variety of other accessories. Turning the corner he scanned the street, silently pleading with whatever higher power existed that surely there was another source of caffeine somewhere. His prayers, were answered as he spotted another coffee shop, smiled and walked in without hesitation... then upon entering halted his step to look around.

It was a bit different from what he was used to. He was used to just going to the counter, ordering a coffee then sitting down and pulling out his laptop and working. But it appeared that here... you sat down at a table and there were actual waiters and waitresses. Shrugging it off, he opted for change and ordered a table for one by the window.

Sitting down, he pulled out his laptop immediately, and began working. Suddenly a voice interrupted him.

"Sir? Can I help you?" A young Asian woman with glasses, black hair done up in a ponytail that reached down to the nape of her neck, and acheerful... almost hyper demeanor stood in front of him, holding a notepad. She was smiling happily, fully dressed in what appeared to be the cafe's uniform: a black skirt that just reached the knees, a white shirt and a green apron.

"Oh yes... umm just a coffee will be fine." Athrun replied. The girl nodded, wrote it down then scuttled off. Curious, Athrun's eyes followed her, and watched as she...

Tossed the pad to a random blond that just walked in, pointed to him, then strolled behind the counter. Removing the apron, she hung it onto a hook on the wall and disappeared into the back. The blond girl turned to him for a moment and Athrun quickly averted his gaze back to his laptop's screen.

* * *

"Hmm, so where are you now?"

To any other person, Lacus' voice would appear quite calm; however Kira could hear the excitement in her voice. He could just picture her pacing back and forth on the stage, cell phone in hand.

"Just got off the plane. I'm heading back to my place..." He smiled. "I heard from Athrun you got the part?" He asked, clearly not surprised.

"Yeah, I'm really happy about it. It's a huge role, but one of my favorites." Lacus confirmed. "Think you'll be too tired to do anything tonight?"

She hopped off the stage and strolled over to an audience seat, where she sat down. Kira drummed his fingers on his briefcase sitting on his lap.

"Mmm, not sure. What do you have in mind?" He asked.

"Well you've been gone for a few months... I was thinking that we could all get together."

"'All' meaning?..."

"Me, you, and Athrun."

Kira looked out the window as the taxi pulled up into his apartment.

"Sounds okay... We might have to make it a tad late though, and I don't think I'll be able to pick you up, so get Athrun to."

Lacus tilted her head in confusion. "Why? Something wrong?"

"Ah, I'll explain later." Kira responded dully, cradling his cell phone between his shoulder and head, while handing a bill over to the driver.

"Why can't you tell me now?" Lacus asked, curiosity mounting with every passing second. Kira unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped in, greeted by a mountain of boxes, property of his new roommate.

"It's a long story. Let's just say... I need to help do some unpacking."

* * *

Minutes passed, and Athrun still stared at his laptop screen. He wanted to know what had happened to his coffee, but at the same time barging up there would be rude. Suddenly, he heard another voice. Not recognizing it as the same as the girl from before, he turned.

"Hey. Are you the guy that ordered the coffee?" It was the blond girl. Athrun blinked.

"Yes. Yes I am."

The blond nodded. "Okay then. Just making sure. She's off her shift now, so I'll be your waitress. My name's Cagalli and if you give me a second, I'll be right back with your coffee." She explained. Athrun shrugged.

"Okay. Sure"

A few minutes later, Cagalli re-appeared carrying random items on a large tray. He watched her circulate tables... it looked like she was pretty skilled. She easily balanced a try with 4 odd some plates and several drinks on one hand, using the other to distribute the food. She finally stopped at Athrun's table.

"And for Mister Alone, a single coffee. Want anything with it?" She offered, passing him the coffee.

"No I'm good." he replied, raising his left hand and waving an open palm while accepting the cup with his right. He began promptly working on his laptop again until she hugged the tray to her body and crossed her arms.

"So, how's it going?" She asked conversationally.

"Hm? Uh... okay." Athrun responded looking up from the screen at her, somewhat caught off-guard.

"Well that sucks." Cagalli frowned.

"What?"

"That sucks."

"How so?" He inquired with a curious and somewhat amused smile on his face.

"Because why would you put up with an okay day when you could be having a great one?"

Athrun thought for a moment. That made sense... but it really had just been an average day.

"Anything happen today at all?" Cagalli pushed.

"No, not really." He repeated.

"Nothing?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Athrun insisted.

She sighed and turned to walk back to the counter. Athrun continued working at his computer without a word, until a bagel was promptly tossed in front of him.

"There. Free bagel. NOW anything interesting happen?"

Athrun looks up to find what appeared to be a semi-exasperated but still very... amusing waitress.

"Besides flying bagels, no." He chuckled. "Still nothing. What? Are you trying to bribe me with breakfast food?"

"No... but now if someone else asks you how your day was, you can say 'Great! I got a free bagel!'" Cagalli smirked.

"Do I get any free cream cheese?" He joked.

"Don't push it." She warned, mockingly wagged her pencil at him.

"You're strange... I don't even know you." Athrun muttered, more to himself, then to her, while picking up the bagel and inspecting it.

"I didn't POISON it... sheesh. If I did I'd get fired." She frowned.

"That's not very reassuring." He laughed. "Your job before my life, eh?"

Taking a bite, he began to rack his brain. Well really nothing had happened. The day was average. But he may as well just tell her about his day and let her decide what she thinks is interesting. "Okay, let's see what happened." He began. "Well I found out my favorite cafe was closed for the week."

"Aw, that's too bad. So that's why you're here?" She pondered. "Thought I didn't recognize you."

"So then you've been working here for a while then?"

"Not really…about two months. But that's still enough time to get to know the regulars." She explained.

Athrun nodded and continued, after swallowing some coffee. "Hmmm oh one of my friends got the lead role in a play." He grinned.

"Well that's cool. Good for her." Cagalli encouraged.

"Yeah... she's also my best friend's girlfriend. Her name's-" He paused for a second and broke into a huge grin. "Hey... don't you have tables to wait on?"

"Hm? No, not really. It's a slow day..." she shrugged.

"I don't think so..." Athrun's grin widened, noting the people behind her who were waving around their cups demanding more tea. "Those wonderful people over there would beg to differ."

Cagalli turned and frowned. "Geez... coming! I'm coming..." She hurried off. Athrun finished his lunch, then gathered his stuff to go. Leaving $2.00 on the table for the coffee, since the bagel was free, he stood up and left. Pushing open the door, he paused for a moment and took a look behind him, only to see Cagalli taking another table's orders. Shrugging, her stepped out of the café and onto the street.

"Interesting. Guess my day was different in more ways then one..." He noted thoughtfully, not even realizing the smile on his face.

* * *

Cagalli finished refilling drinks and turned back towards the man who had been alone. However, taking a quick glance, she noticed that he had already left.

_Poor guy looked bored... _

Walking over, she picked up the $2.00 that he had left for his drink, and smiled to herself.

"Guess he really DID take it as a free bagel. Heh..." Gathering the bills, she halted suddenly and recounted them. Gradually a frown spread across her face and she bolted out the door. Looking down the street, he was already nowhere to be found. Feeling the anger inside her building... she did the only thing she could do. Cupping both hands around her mouth, she took a deep breath…

"YOU JERK! YOU FORGOT MY TIP!"

* * *

**First of all, props to anyone that's able to guess who the first waitress that took Athrun's order is. (Trust me, I'm not expecting anyone to get it…But to be fair I'll tell you guys next chapter.) **

**This is… by FAR, one of the shortest chapters to a story I have ever written. I am truly in awe: But I want to cut it off here anyways, just becausethe next part really feels like it should be it's own seperate chapter.This one's not as spontaneous as Blush and Smile was in terms of deciding to write it... But I hope you guys find it just as enjoyable. Regular weekly updates for this story as usual, so drop a review and let me know what you think of it so far! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. It's not Want

**This is slightly late… like a few hours. Sorry sorry sorry, I had trouble uploading. BUT! I still did get it in within the day! So, read on!**

* * *

Cagalli sighed and removed her apron, wiping her forehead off with a wet towel. Another day, Another couple bucks. As much as she liked this job, it was really starting to take it's toll on her. She helped carry a few more plates back into the kitchen, then grabbed her stuff and with a quick wave to everyone, left the cafe.

"I wonder how much longer I can hold out like this..." she frowned.

* * *

Athrun strolled through the now familiar hallways, and stopped just at the end, where two large double doors stood open, welcoming him into a large auditorium. he knocked lightly on one of the open doors with his right hand, ore out of courtesy than anything and looked around, before a familiar pink head of hair popped out from backstage and gave him a quick wave, then hopped down a few stairs.

"Hey Athrun, sorry I'm not totally ready yet. Umm you can ahead to Kira's if you like..." she smiled meekly. "There's just one or two things... the soundboard's acting up a bit, and the lighting from 16 to 19 isn't working. So I'm just going to hang around here until those get into working order and uh...Ath-Athrun?"

Lacus stopped talking as Athrun walked straight past her and picked up her bag. Turning to meet her surprised face, he grinned a bit.

"Sorry Lacus, but Kira would have my head if i showed up without you. let's get going. you can handle this stuff later. This is just your first day."

Lacus smiled knowingly. "All right... But then tomorrow either you or Kira has to come and help me figure this out." she insisted, walking out of the door.

"Lacus, for the love of-... you JUST got the part. Do you even know all your lines?"

"I memorized them for my audition." She shrugged.

"ALL of them!"

"Mmhmm."

Athrun shook his head in disbelief. Lacus truly never failed to amaze him. How she could accomplish so much with such facile would always remain a mystery to him, but for her it just came naturally. She was the school's main actress, his childhood friend, and just recently, became his best friend's girlfriend. Of course with his beat friend's busy schedule, and on top of that, being out of the country for a hell of a lot time, Athrun had somehow ended up becoming Lacus' chauffeur as of late as well.

Not that he minded. he rather enjoyed lacus' company. She was pleasant and easy to be around, a good conversationalist and also a fantastic listener. The only problem was when…

"So Athrun, meet anyone today?"

That.

It appeared that both he and Kira had this funny idea in their heads, that it was time for him to have a relationship. And though they didn't set him up with anyone, and preferred he "find his own way" to love... the fact that he couldn't have an exchange of words without some reference to his bachelorhood was... becoming rather...

Annoying.

ESPECIALLY because he hadn't found anyone.

And didn't want to. Sort of.

Kira called him a hopeless romantic. Lacus thought he was shy. In reality it was a bit of both. He kept waiting for an instant click, chemistry at first glance. Then again if that if happened he would have no idea what to do.

"Well? Athrun, we're almost there. If you don't spit it out, you're going to have to face Kira grilling you too."

The poor bachelor let out a helpless sigh. It was inevitable.

"So Athrun? How was your day?"

He suddenly smiled, thinking of a certain blonde waitress that had helped him prepare for this question.

"Heh, great. I got a free bagel."

Lacus raised a confused eyebrow. "You got a what?"

"I got a free bagel." he chuckled amusedly to himself.

"Athrun, that's not what I mean... I was asking if you have any female contact today."

He shrugged. "I know, I know Lacus. Lighten up. I was just saying what I was supposed to."

Lacus sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Okay Athrun, explain."

"This waitress at this cafe asked me how my day was. When I told her it was normal, she gave me a free bagel so that if anyone else asked me I could say 'Great! I got a free bagel!"

"Mmhmm I see. What did she look like?" Lacus smiled, looking out the window to hide her smile, eyes studying his face which and strangely lit up.

"Hmm let's see... Blonde hair up to her shoulder, amber eyes, probably about 5'4" wearing a green apron over blue jeans and a white shirt." He replied, eyebrows furrowed trying to dig up the memory.

"And uh. Athrun?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you remember her in such detail?"

Athrun's eyes widened and he looked at her quickly. "NO! NO NO NO! That's not it! She was interesting, that's all. I mean, it's nothing like that!"

Lacus smiled deviously and nodded. "Uh huh... I'll tell Kira and see what he thinks."

"Lacus! You wouldn't!" Athrun protested.

"Hm here we are now! At Kira's place. I'll call him and tell him to come down." Lacus smiled, whipping out her cell phone. Athrun sunk in his chair, and hit his head against the dashboard a few times.

* * *

"You're going to be home late?" Kira repeated, tripping over several boxes. His new "roommate" has just moved in, and hadn't gotten around to unpacking.

"Yeah..."Cagalli sighed. "The subway is completely packed; I just can't fit in... I mean, the cafe's so far from home anyways...It's ridiculoud. Hey…Hey Kira?"

"Y-yeah?" He replied, stumbling over the last obstacle and plopping down onto the couch.

"You don't sound so good... Everything okay?" She asked, eyebrows raised in concern.

Kira smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Oh, hold on. Call on the other line." He said, quickly switching over. "Hello?"

"Kira, it's Lacus. We're downstairs already."

"Mm, okay coming. Sorry I'm just talking to my sister on the other line..."

"Sister? I didn't know you had a sister."

" I'll explain later. Hold on." He said hurriedly, switching to the other line. "Cagalli, I have to let you go now. But uh, when you get home, the fridge has literally nothing…I'm not kidding you. So get something to eat on the way back. I'm so sorry about this though. I'll introduce you to Lacus soon, I promise."

" Kira, calm down. It's fine. You better get going."

"Mm okay. Bye." He nodded, quickly hanging up, grabbing his jacket and sprinting out the door. As soon as he got outside, he found Lacus waiting by the door and Athrun still seated in the car. Lacus quickly gave him a hug and Athrun nodded and waved a bit. Kira grinned back and hopped into Athrun's car.

"Welcome back Kira!" Lacus chirped. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again! Did you have fun there?"

"Four months of non-stop work and no one to relax and unload with. Oh yes, it was LOADS of fun. In regards to missing me… it's not like we didn't video conference EVERY DAY."

"But still!" Lacus insisted. She paused for a second. "Being an exchange student for a while sounded really great. I would have gone, but there was the play, and I couldn't leave... How's your French now?"

"Pas mal. Mais Je pense que mon accent n'est pas assez bon." (Translation: Not bad. But I think that my accent isn't good enough)

Athrun laughed. "It sounds fine to me. Good to see you again though man."

"Yeah... Hey thanks for taking care of Lacus while I was gone. There was one other thing I wanted you to take care of, but I felt bad enough leaving all that stuff with you already."

"Hm? One more thing? You've gotta be kidding me Kira. What else could you possibly have NOT had me do?" Athrun cried incredulously. While Kira was doing the exchange trip for the past few months, Athrun had been bestowed with the honor of taking care of everything Kira had, from dusting his apartment to watching over Lacus, to feeding his goldfish (which tragically died from overfeeding within 2 weeks of Kira leaving… the one in there is actually a replacement) Leaving poor Athrun exhausted at the end of every day.

Kira sighed, "Believe me I could have asked for more… A lot more."

"Like what?" Athrun frowned, eyes narrowing as he studied Kira's face through the front mirror.

"...Take care of my sister?" Kira replied meekly. Athrun's eyes widened.

"You have a SISTER? Since when?"

"Since birth. We're twins, but she's been studying abroad with my aunt. I assure you her French is much better than mine." He grinned.

"I'm sure she's a wonderful person." Lacus smiled. "But you never told us or anything… and we've never met her…"

"I keep in touch with her pretty closely. She moved back here about 2 months ago, but I was still doing the exchange program. I thought of getting Athrun to show her around, but she insisted that she could take care of herself." Kira sighed.

Athrun frowned. "It wouldn't have been a problem..."

"She's got this independence thing… I guess being abroad for your life does that to you. When she got here she stayed at a hotel until she found an apartment, then got a job and everything. But she's moving in with me now that I'm back... hence my trouble navigating my apartment. The massive boxes make for quite a maze."

"Why isn't she coming to dinner with us then?" Lacus asked.

"Not back from work yet. She works pretty far away... Oh here we are." Kira noted, as they pulled up towards their favorite restaurant. Athrun got out and handed the keys to the valet, then hurried to catch up to Kira and Lacus who were already a bit ahead.

Suddenly, Lacus slowed her step as Kira walked forward to confirm their reservations. Athrun raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Something wrong?"

"You'll notice how I didn't bring up the waitress?" The crafty woman hinted.

"Yes? Thanks by the way." Athrun replied.

"I won't mention it at dinner either. We'll keep this our little secret... on one condition."

"Anything" he pleaded. The last thing he needed now was Kira down his throat too.

"You said you met her at a café?"

Athrun gave a quick helpless nod.

"Go back tomorrow."

* * *

Athrun sighed, staring at the entrance to the café. And so here he was… Granted Lacus had kept her word and didn't bring it up, but today she was apparently going to call and ask for her name at the very least.

For a moment, Athrun considered not going in and just making up something when Lacus called… But something about staring at this café… made him want to go in.

"I probably just need coffee… I mean, I want coffee anyways…" He muttered to himself. Stepping forward, he pushed open the door and looked around. Spotting a familiar blonde head, he smiled inwardly and went to sit down at the same table as before.

* * *

Cagalli sighed, straightening her apron. The day was just starting and she was already feeling tired. Because she lived so far now, the time it took for her to commute over here made her have to wake up about an hour earlier…

And as one would assume, she was not a morning person.

Placing her tray on counter she leaned back for a moment and took a quick eye survey, checking to see if anyone needed anything, when a familiar blue head caught her attention.

"That guy…" She mumbled. Her instant reaction was surprise…. Then part of her wanted to march over and give him a piece of her mind, the other part wanted to ignore him.

Weighing her options, she sighed under the realization that her job wouldn't permit her to simply ignore him… for sake of professionalism. Her job. It's not like she wanted to approach him… she had to. Right?

She didn't want to talk to him… right?

And so while her brain argued with itself… her tired face began to lift…

Just a bit.

* * *

**I think my writing is gradually getting worse. Ugh... Sorry guys. I'm hoping the whole explanation of Cagalli and Kira wasn't too confusing. It's boring, but had to be done. In any case, this chapter's a bit weird so feel free to blast me with bad reviews. **

**Now... about that waitress. Imagine my surprise when one of you actually got it. koali alolao, I have to admit that I almost had a heart attack when I read your review. Believe it or not, yes that waitress is me. "I" will probably appear... one... two more times max, just as another waitress working there to fill the space. **

**As for why I used myself, I did it mostly because I needed a character, didn't' want to use someone from the show for such a minor role, and couldn't' think of someone off the top of my head. Hence, I shoved myself in there.**

**This chapter is a bit longer than the last one, but still doesn't match up to some of the other stuff I've written. It was much longer before, but then during editing I think I ended up pulling out about a third of it… I'll try to make the next ones longer though. **

**Perhaps most surprising to me though was the amount of reviewers I got. That was absolutely awesome to see, and so I can't thank these guys enough:**

**Michiyo Hikari, clumsykelli, Cherry360, gseedlover, tkdl, Freyris, KiraFreedom, KaguyaEvenstar, daisukechibi, secretd, Riley Mayori, HimeHikari, Smoke-Angel, ANONYMOUS, chidori-san, 78, stuntsheep, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, MXCrocks, mariad, AXCandDXM4ever, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, kura52, koali alolao, asga, The Angels' Princess, animemistress419, Torri-Chiobie, Living Arrow, Cagalli-01, psycogirl234, xMENCHUx **

**So, hope you enjoyed this chapter. And see that little "review" button right below this? If you would click that and write some form of comment, whether that be compliments or threats to my physical or mental well-being, I'd be very much obliged. Actually, let's try to keep the threats at a minimum… but if you've got nothing else to say, go ahead. **

**Thank you Readers and Reviewers!**


	3. Lost Link

**Well while writing this chapter, I realized how weird it is tothink of a character based off me, especially when said character needs to actually DO stuff. For clarification, I didn't mean that I am literally putting myself in this fic. I mean that her appearance is based off me, and ONLY her appearance. I'm not even giving her my name. **

**cough So anyways, another week, another chapter. Here we go!**

**As usual, bold is my babbling,** i_**talics**_ **represent a character's thoughts and underlining isfor emphasis.**

* * *

Cagalli began to walk apprehensively towards that… blasted man. Nothing like a bad tipper to get a waitress' blood boiling… but this guy had crossed the line. He didn't give her one at all!

_He's just a jerk._

Athrun, sensing a presence, looked up from his laptop screen.

_A total jerk._

He turned and spotted her, and a smile began to spread on his face.

_Okay…. A relatively good-looking jerk._

"So do I get a free bagel today?" He teased with a grin on his face.

"I KNEW IT! YOU ARE A JERK!" Cagalli screamed, pointing at him furiously and discarding all self-control.

"Wha-What?" Athrun jumped back, frightened by her sudden outburst.

"Look mister 'I-have-a-laptop-so-I'm-clearly-loaded'. If you think for a minute that you can just abuse good service, you've got another thing coming!" Cagalli started, oblivious to the many heads that were starting to turn in their direction.

"I-I have no idea what you mean. The bagel was free!" Athrun protested.

"EXACTLY!" She hollered. "I, out of the generosity of my heart decided to give you a free bagel. THE GENEROUSITY OF MY FRIKING KIND HEART. And then YOU don't even bother to leave me a tip. Think what you want, but I only make $1.25 an hour here! The rest is in tips!"

Athrun froze. "$1.25? Isn't that… illegal?"

"NO! It's standard!" Cagalli informed in a booming voice. She began panting hard, catching her breath…Gradually she began to become aware of her surroundings…

Several people were staring at her, mouths open. Others had begun to gather their stuff and leave the café, careful to flesh out generous tips. The waitress from the other day, Terra, slowly walked up to Cagalli apprehensively, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Feel free to take your conversation to the back… I'll cover your tables out here?"

Cagalli hid her face, which currently bore the color of a steamed lobster. Athrun's cheeks had begun to heat up from embarrassment, but more from shock as he'd still not recovered. Grabbing his hand, Cagalli lead him into the kitchen.

Taking a quick look around, she noticed that it appeared the cooks had heard her too, for 3 pancakes were now charcoal black and burning, and another waitress had overfilled several cups of coffee.

"Back to work guys…" Cagalli muttered sulkily, pulling Athrun along until they had reached a more secluded area.

* * *

Athrun stared at the ground, making fidgety movements. One minute he was typing on his laptop, the next he was verbally assaulted, and now he was in the back with this strange waitress that had just scared 5 years off his life.

"I uh… I'm sorry." He started… unsure of what to say. Cagalli looked at him, as if surprised. "I… didn't know about the pay thing. Or the tip. Not that I didn't mean to give you a tip. I mean, I swear I just forgot. That's all."

Cagalli sighed heavily. "Don't sweat it… it's been a long day. Just don't do it again… it really does tick us off."

"So then… why are you still a waitress? Isn't there anything else you can do?" Athrun suggested.

"I've tried, but I'm still in school. University I mean… I need to pay the tuition. I'm taking a semester off right now so I can get enough money. No one else is hiring for just a few months…" She sighed. "Don't worry about it. It's no big deal. And the $1.25 isn't bad really. It's about average for servers. Tips get us another few bucks an hour, so really it's pretty good pay."

Athrun studied her with interest… Her words were convincing, however there was something about the way she was playing with her hands that made him feel like there was something else. Her body language told him there was something else.

"If there's anything you want to talk about... I don't' know if I'm the best person for it... but I'm a person."

Cagalli looked up at him with an expression Athrun hadn't anticipated. It looked worried, curious, confused, lost, yet confident and strong at the same time... He had no idea how she was managing that.

"What about you? Anything you need to talk about?"

Athrun stumbled a bit. _What the...?_

And so they stood there for a while, studying the emotions in each other's eyes, for what felt like eons. A tint began to appear on Cagalli's face while Athrun just kept... staring at her. She quickly turned away. Athrun felt tempted to say something when...

"Hey! I can't cover you forever!" The same waitress from before stuck her head into the back. "You won't' BELIEVE how many tips you've got..."

Athrun burst out laughing and Cagalli blushed furiously. "We-Well then good. I could use it to make up for some OTHER cheapos." She glared at Athrun. He looked at her mirthfully.

"So this is how you plan to get tips? Scare people into submission?"

"Whatever works." Cagalli sighed, rolling her eyes and heading out. Suddenly stopping, she turned to face Athrun again. "Hey um, I mean feel free to sit down again. Order a coffee or whatever."

Athrun nodded and followed her out. "Sure…"

* * *

Returning to his seat, Athrun once more began typing on his laptop. Cagalli brought over a coffee, and sighed.

"Is that ALL you ever do? Type on your laptop?"

Athrun looked up at her. "No, not at all. I just have a lot of work…" he muttered, Cagalli sighed, reaching forward and closed his laptop.

"Hey! Athrun protested, reaching forward. "Don't… That's my work!"

"Relax a little. You're making me nervous."

"I'M making YOU nervous! YOU'RE THE ONE HOVERING OVER MY SHOULDER!"

"Whoa easy there. I'm just saying, you're going to stress your hair out if you keep this up. RELAX. That's the atmosphere we try provide here." Cagalli lectured. Athrun sighed.

"I know. It's nice of you too... but I mean. The company I work for keeps me pretty busy, so if I get this done now, then later I can have some free time."

"And you tell me to get a new job?" Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "Well your plan sounds reasonable. What are you going to do with the free time?" Cagalli asked. Athrun smiled at her directness.

"I'll probably just be going to go to a friend's house." He replied. "What's on your agenda for the night?"

"My brother wants to invite his friends over so I can meet them." She shrugged, making a self-note to call Kira and tell him that she would be late coming home... Again.

Athrun nodded, and finished up his drink. He collected his things and began to stand. "Sounds fun. Enjoy yourself. I'll be seeing you later I guess."

"Eh? You mean you still want to come back even after I blew up like that?" Cagalli said, her face clearly marked with disbelief.

Athrun turned and smiled at her. "Well I still need a place to get coffee, and the pro outweighs the con. Overall, you're more of a reason for me to come, than a reason for me to not." He grinned and gave her a quick wave, and before she could respond he was out the door.

Cagalli stood there for a while, clutching a tray.

"I'm... a reason... to come?"

Suddenly her face felt like she was standing over a boiled pot of water, hot steam hitting her cheeks, mercilessly coloring them.

"Geez..." she muttered, turning to hide her face. "That's really corny..."

"Well, we could all use a little corniness sometimes, huh?" Terra teased, tapping Cagalli on the shoulder with her tray. Cagalli blushed again, realizing that she'd spoken out loud, and went to go busy herself with more work.

* * *

Athrun walked outside, and began walking down the street in good spirits. Hopping into his car, he once more fell into routine: The routine of picking up Lacus and then having the two of them go over to Kira's. It wasn't until he got out of the car that he paused, and a cold chill fell down his spine.

"I still don't... I FORGOT TO GET HER NAME!" He cried, smacking his forehead with his palm. "What the hell am I going to do! Lacus might tell!... No wait. She's not the type to do that. I'll just tell her what happened, and I'm sure she'll understand... though she might make me do something again."

He continued muttering down the hall until suddenly he bumped into someone rather abruptly. Stumbling to catch his balance, he caught the person he'd bumped into before they fell down.

"Oh man, I'm sorry. Are you okay...? Lacus?"

The girl blinked at him, and then suddenly her face lit up.

"Did you say Lacus? You think I'm Miss Clyne? Really!"

"Huh?... Well... aren't... you?" Athrun answered testily, carefully measuring each word before letting it fall out of his mouth. This girl... looked EXACTLY like Lacus. How could she not be? Unless Lacus had finally let the over-work get to her and had lost it...

"I can't' believe this! You're a friend of hers, right! Athrun? Do I really look like Miss Clyne! So much that even you can't tell?"

Athrun nodded slowly, reluctant to say anything until he got an explanation.

"I should get her to do my makeup more often... I can never get it right. Oh I'm sorry... I'm Meer Campbell, her understudy!" She explained. Athrun let out a sigh of relief. So it WASN'T Lacus... but then... what was up with this girl?

"To the best of my understanding, aren't you supposed to play her role if she's sick or something?" Athrun clarified. Meer nodded. "So then how does that involve looking like her?"

"I'm trying to be like Miss Clyne as much as possible, so if I ever do have to take her part, then I can do it perfectly." She explained. "She's such a terrific actress, and so I have to try to be like her as much as possible."

Athrun was about to say something, when a voice came out from the corner.

"Athrun? Is that you?"

"Yeah!" He replied, instantly recognizing her calm and dignified, yet gentle voice. Lacus stepped out, holding her purse and shoving things into her bag.

"Let's get going then. Oh and Meer, about your make up." She started. Meer perked up at the sound of her name. "I'd be happy to do it again for you, but just remember not so much eye shadow. Okay?"

Meer nodded and ran towards the dressing rooms, as Lacus and Athrun headed out.

"So that Meer girl... Aren't you kind of creeped out?" He asked.

"At first a bit." She admitted. "But it's a nice gesture. She really looks up to me, and on top of that, she does a great job. She's a nice person really, once you get to know her."

Athrun nodded. "I'm sure of that... But how can you tell the difference?"

Lacus laughed. "Kira almost had a heart attack when he saw her this morning. But I think he said something about eye color... aside from the more…obvious differences. Now stop avoiding the subject. You know what I'm looking for here."

"Her name?" Athrun sighed. So much for hoping she might forget...

"Of course. Did you go back?" She asked, as they began exchanging words like balls in a tennis match.

"Yes."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes."

"Did you get her name?"

"No."

"...You fail."

"What?"

"I gave you a SIMPLE job athrun. A simple request. What's her name? It couldn't be easier!" LAcus sighed.

"It's awkward asking for a name!" He argued.

"Doesn't she weara name tag?"

"No, she doesn't like wearing her uniform, remember? Besides, no one in that cafe wears name tags..."

Just then, Athrun's cell phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket, he tossed it to Lacus as he opened the car door.

"Hello?" Lacus answered.

"Lacus? Since when are you Athrun's secretary?"

"Since he's been my chauffeur." She joked.

"That's great... anything I need to be?" He laughed, going along with it.

"Be yourself. You're best that way." Lacus smiled. She knew on the other side of this phone, Kira was smiling too... maybe more blushing than smiling.

"Is everything all right?" She checked in.

"Not really..." Kira sighed snapping out of the daze he entered from Lacus' words. "Where are you guys now?"

"On our way to your place, so we can meet your sister."

Kira nodded. "Yeah well... plan's changed. She's running late and so probably can't make it. I was thinking we could just go somewhere else."

Lacus frowned in disappointment. "But I was really looking forward to meeting her... Couldn't' we just wait until she gets back?"

"Well there's a thought... Are you hungry though? I don't' want you to starve while we wait up for her." He noted worriedly.

"No no, I'm fine. Eh... what's that sound?"

"That... That's her coming back." He laughed, turning his head just as Cagalli opened the door and collapsed on the couch.

"Oh, that's good." Lacus clapped. "Mind if I put this thing on speaker phone Athrun?"

"Not at all." He shrugged. Lacus set the phone down and set it to speaker, as did Kira.

"Hello?" Cagalli asked, clearly a bit confused.

Athrun jumped a little. Something about the voice was familiar...

"Hello! It's nice to um... talk to you. I'm Lacus and um... the guy who's beside me that you can't see is Athrun."

"Hey." Athrun said lamely.

Cagalli paused for a second... the first voice was very nice. Lacus sounded exactly like the type of girlfriend she'd expect Kira to have. But the second one was strange... she could swear she'd heard it before… but the static made it hard to really make out.

"Thank you." Cagalli replied "Sorry I'm late... Kira told me your idea, but I'm a bit too tired to be up for anything fun right now. Sorry."

"Oh no, not at all! Health always comes first." Lacus insisted.

"I'll meet you guys downstairs." Kira interjected. "If you're still up for something I mean."

"Sounds fine." Athrun stated plainly. Cagalli's eyebrows crossed in thought again. Who WAS this guy?...

"So then... Good night." Cagalli said, breaking her train of thought.

"Night." Both Athrun and Lacus said, hanging up.

"So then... That was a bit disappointing huh?" Lacus leaned back into her seat.

Athrun nodded stiffly in reply. Disappointment was right… For some reason he felt very sad, as if he'd just lost out on something big... Like he'd just...

Missed something.

* * *

**Now... Tell the truth. Did you really think I was going to let Athrun and Cagalli meet so easily? No breaks for them: They're going to have to struggle a bit before I let them figure it out. **

**Well I hope this one's a bit better for you guys then the last two. It's a bit longer, if that helps and there's more interaction between the two. But in general… a tad uneventful. I'm going to have to start pushing this thing a little faster from here on out. **

**Quick note before anyone goes nuts and starts hitting the review button like a maniac: Yes Meer is going to be a semi-regular character, but as in character as possible. That is, she won't be sleeping around, doing drugs, trying to seduce anyone, or anything to that extent. She's going to be Meer.**

**Once more, thank you to my reviewers:**

**clumsykelli, Athrun-n-Cagalli, ANONYMOUS, Michiyo Hikari, hale, PaperFish, fayt leingod, animemistress419, kira yamato, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, The Angels' Princess, KiraFreedom, taijiya-sango88, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, daisukechibi, gseedlover, KaguyaEvenstar, Onirei Kirara, Maryam Khanoom, psycogirl234, koali alolao, stuntsheep, MXCrocks, Torri-Chiobie, Cagalli-01, asga, mariad, astrocosmos, kura52, Smoke-Angel **

**I love reading what you guys have to say! Thank you to all the readers too!**

**Finally, as a preview to make up for the lack of… stuff in this chapter, these probably aren't going to be direct quotes from the next chapter, as I have yet not written it, but here are a few lines I'm hoping to use:**

_**"The day is more interesting if it starts with you."**_

"_**Hey… Terra? You know that guy…"**_

"…_**It's nothing."**_

"_**Maybe it's time for a change."**_

_**And suddenly, Athrun didn't want to go in anymore.**_

**I hope that doesn't make anything too obvious, but we'll see. **

**Thank again everyone!**


	4. Need of Names

**First of all, my sincere apoligies. This chapter is about half a day, or a day late. My computer was having uploading issues. I'll get the next chapter up a day early or something to make up for it.**

**Well, here we are. How fast the time seems to pass for me. I'm actually surprisingly pleased with this chapter, both in terms of the events and the writing. It's longer than the others, since the shorter chapters were really starting to get to me. So, for your reading pleasure, I bring you: Chapter 4. **

**

* * *

**

"Hello again." Greeted Athrun cheerfully, as he stepped into the now familiar café and took his usual seat by the window. Cagalli approached him cheerfully, and placed a mug on the table.

"Hello to you too. How has your day been?" She asked, filling the cup with coffee.

"Up until now? Boring and regular." He sighed, leaning back into his seat and taking a swig of coffee. "But the day always seems to perk up after I come here."

Cagalli's words caught in her throat, and she found herself unable to say anything, struck from his sudden remark.

"It could just be the coffee, of course..." Athrun grinned. Cagalli's face relaxed for a moment, then she glared at him as she whacked him on the shoulder with a notepad.

"Gee Thanks. Want anything different today then?"

Athrun was about to respond, when he paused and regarded her for a moment. Cagalli stared at him, unsure of the cause for the sudden silence.

"Sit down." He stated plainly.

"Huh?" Cagalli took a step back, unsure of what he meant.

"Sit down. This table seats two, and you look stressed. Take a breather. Sit down."

"I have tables to wait on." She shrugged.

"I don't care. Sit down... just for 5 minutes even." Athrun urged. Cagalli paused for a moment, and looked at the tempting chair that was opposite to Athrun. Recomposing herself from the sudden shake-up, she dusted off her apron and took a seat opposite him.

"Busy day?" He asked, making light conversation. He took out his laptop and placed it on the table, but did not open it. Rather, he simply rested his folded hands onto it, while he watched her.

"Umm, yeah. Well just the usual too. It's just starting to take it's toll on me. I leave home early, but always get home late. I barely ever see my brother, much less the friends he wants me to meet. "

"How long have you worked here now?" Athrun raised a concerned eyebrow.

"2 and a half months." Cagalli answered effortlessly.

"Half a month ago, I first walked in here." Athrun remarked. "Feels like longer though... I feel like I've been coming here for ages."

He resumed watching her, noticing how fidgety she was. She had lapsed into her nervous habit of playing with her fingers, and not looking at who she was talking too.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, tempted to reach over and stop her hands from being so restless.

Cagalli looked up at him with a start. Her expression softened, and her gaze lowered a bit. "Same here."

"Hm?"

"I feel like... I've known you a long time too." She finally admitted, looking up and smiling a bit.

Athrun nodded. "It's strange that way... I don't know your birthday, your favorite color, or where you were born. Nor do I know what music you like, or what books you read, or even what University you go to... But I do know that... the day is more interesting if it starts with you."

Cagalli's eyes widened slightly. Surely it was no possible hat in such a short span of time... She sighed guiltily, much to Athrun's concern.

"Sorry... that I can't be a more entertaining server now. But the other tables..."

Athrun nodded as she began to rise. He looked down, and realized that he had finished his coffee without ever opening his laptop. Smiling to himself a bit, he packed it up and began to leave. Cagalli turned suddenly, as if panicked.

"Hey... Since it's been two weeks now... could I get your name?" She blurted out. Athrun halted mid step, and turned to give her a gentle grin.

"What's in a name?"

"Huh?"

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Athrun's grin widened.

"I have no idea what you're saying." Cagalli frowned, tempted to throw her mini-pencil at him for mocking her.

Athrun sighed, evidently amused. "How about tomorrow?"

Cagalli blinked, and once more found herself unable to say what she wanted to. She managed a stiff nod, and an awkward wave. Watching the door close behind him, she could only whisper under her breath...

"Goodbye..."

* * *

"And so that's what's been happening... "Lacus finally confessed. As much as she promised to keep Athrun's little secret a secret, pretty soon Kira was beginning to notice changes in Athrun as well. She tried to play it off as simply a mood change at first, then panicked when Kira suggested they find Athrun a psychiatrist. 

The only problem...

Athrun still didn't know her name. Nor had he told her his...

Normally under these circumstances, one could say that Athrun and his mystery waitress were going nowhere fast. Yet from what Athrun was saying, and the way he was acting, they were going... though not terribly fast... but certainly smoothly.

And for the first time, ever, Athrun didn't mind talking about a girl. In fact, around Lacus he seems positively excited to talk about her. And so naturally, Kira began to wonder...

And wonder...

And wonder...

Until finally Lacus told him.

And now the both of them sat on a park bench, Kira's eyebrows furrowed in thought, with Lacus' eyes wide in anticipation.

"She's a waitress?" Kira checked.

"Uh huh."

"Where does she work?"

"He never said."

"Blond hair... Amber eyes?"

"Yep." Lacus responded, slowly beginning to lighten up. Kira's eyes grew darker.

_"It just HAS to be a coincidence. There's no way that it's possible..."_ He frowned... "But if it does turn out that... well then I've not go reason NOT kill him..."

"Kira? Kira!" Lacus called out to him. "Kira, you alive in there?" She sighed, waving an open palm in front of his face. Kira snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her.

"Yeah. That's great though, that Athrun's finally showed interest."

"But I'm worried..." Lacus sighed. "He's not going anywhere… he doesn't even know her name..."

_"He better not be getting anywhere... Just in case."_ Kira made a mental note and shrugged, and opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly his cell phone went off.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Kira? It's me." Cagalli's voice rang clearly through the phone.

"Oh hey Cagalli. What's up?"

"Umm nothing... It's just that today's the day, you know? Would you mind picking me up?"

"Not at all." He responded.

"Um... Kira?" She asked. Her brother sensed the hesitation in her voice.

"Something up?"

"No, I'll just ask you later." Cagalli sighed, hanging up. She pocketed her cell phone and collected her belongings. Terra emerged from the back and sighed, leaning against the counter.

"It's just not going to be the same, you know Cagalli?"

"I know..." Cagalli muttered. A thought hit her, and she paused for a moment. "Hey... Terra? You know that guy..." She began.

Terra looked up with a grin. "You mean your new favorite customer?"

Cagalli blushed. "He's not my... Well you know who I'm talking about."

"Yeah, yeah of course. Why?" She asked as calmly as possible, trying to suppress her delight.

"After this... could you possibly..." Cagalli began, repeating his words of 'tomorrow' in her head. Shaking her head sharply she drew a quick breath.

"It's nothing." she said firmly. Terra raised a doubtful eyebrow, but Cagalli turned to her firmly.

"It's nothing."

* * *

Kira drove up to the cafe where Cagalli worked, to pick her up. He had just finished dropping off Lacus, and couldn't wipe the smile off his face. However, his face dropped a bit when he saw the melancholy look on Cagalli's face. 

"Cagalli, what's wrong?"

Cagalli buckled her seat belt hurriedly, and looked up, as if surprised to see him. "Hm? Oh nothing."

Kira kept quiet and began to drive home, knowing that something was wrong. But if she didn't want to talk about it...

"Oh, what was it you wanted to say earlier? When we were on the phone?"

Cagalli paused for a moment, digging into her memory. "Oh!" she exclaimed, as she finally recalled. "What does 'that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet' mean?"

Kira blinked in surprise. "It's Shakespeare, from Romeo and Juliet. Basically he's saying that names don't matter, since even if you named a rose something else, it would still be a rose. It still smells just as sweet."

Cagalli seemed to react to this in a way that Kira couldn't quite figure out. Though her head dropped a little, he could swear that he had caught glimpse of a smile.

"I see... Okay."

"Any reason you wanted to know in particular?" He inquired. A flitter of a smile appeared on her face again.

"No... I was just... wondering."

* * *

Athrun parked his car in his regular spot, and headed into the cafe. Last night, as expected, Lacus called him to ask if he has gotten her name. Once more, he had to reply no… but decided not to tell her about he'd semi-refused to give his name to hers. Besides what was the rush? He came here every day anyway. 

He stopped in from of the large window, pausing for a second. Frowning a bit, he noticed that he couldn't spot a familiar blonde head bustling around and taking orders. Suddenly he felt a bit discouraged from entering... usually he could spot her in there.

Shaking such thoughts out of his head, he stepped in. Besides, it's not like he went there JUST to see her, right? It was mostly for the coffee of course. Taking his regular table, he ordered his usual from a different waitress that he didn't recognize and sat, staring out the window. After a few minutes, he pulled out his laptop again, and began to start working again.

"Coffee, right?"

Athrun looked up to find the same Asian waitress.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks very much." He smiled gratefully and took the cup. The waitress nodded, and was about to walk away when Athrun suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, um... This may sound like a strange question, but where is that other waitress?"

Terra smiled a bit. "You mean the blonde?"

"Um, yeah her. It's just that I usually get a coffee from her..."

"She doesn't work here anymore."

Athrun almost spit out his coffee all over laptop screen. "Wha-What did you say?"

"She quit. Two weeks ago, she handed in her two weeks notice, because she had moved and her new apartment was too far away. Yesterday was her last day. I'm sorry."

Athrun momentarily forgot how to blink, and his heart forgot to beat... until Terra's words hit him and it resumed pounding loudly in his chest.

"I-I see... Thank you, umm..."

"Terra. My name's Terra."

"Thank you Terra." He finished politely. Terra nodded sympathetically, unsure if she should say anything else. She wanted to tell him Cagalli's name, but wasn't allowed to disclose information on other employees. Backing away from his now gradually slumping figure, she resumed waiting on tables.

* * *

Athrun stared at the coffee in his cup, studying his own reflection. So this was it... She was gone. That day he'd walked in two weeks ago, was the same day she decided to quit. Was it pure coincidence? Why did he have to get to know her anyways? Why couldn't she have just been an ordinary waitress, that took orders and delivered them? Why did she start talking to him? Why did she try to cheer him up? 

Why did she understand him, more than any other person had ever met before?... Once more he became lost in the argument between his head and… well all right. As much as he'd like to deny it, it was his heart…

_I never even got her name._

_The coffee is pretty good here..._

_I refused to give her mine!_

_The bagels are good too..._

_Even though I've only had them once... when she gave it to me._

Athrun's chest gave a painful twist as a lump got caught in his throat. Swallowing some coffee to wash it down, he shook such thoughts out of his head. What was the point in thinking about this? He'd known her for two weeks and she was gone anyways. He had no way of finding her. It would be better to forget that she ever...

Existed...

He looked around him. Everything seems so strange now. There was that table that she liked to lean on, That was the table where she dropped a coffee pot last week, that was the entrance to the back, where she hung her coat, and where they first talked after she got mad at him for forgetting to tip... Thrusting his laptop back into his bag, he left his half drunk coffee on the table and left.

Because suddenly he didn't want to be in there anymore...

* * *

"After weighing out the opinions... Oh sorry, options." Kira corrected, staring at his script. Lacus let out a tired sigh and threw hers at him. 

"Kira, you're horrible! I've got these lines memorized and you can't even read them off paper? How am I supposed to rehearse like this?"

"Sorry, sorry!" He laughed, standing up and placing his script on his chair. "But I'm not an actor. You know that."

"Don't I ever..." Lacus teased, giving him a hug. "It's fine, you're doing your best. I just won't practice with you..."

"Ouch!" Kira grinned, letting go her and punching his chest as if he'd been stabbed. "Gee, thanks."

"You want me to get better at this or not?" she jokingly put her hands on her hips, pretending to be upset.

"Of course not. Then you'd get famous and have fan boys chasing you everywhere. And you'd dump me for some really good looking fan boy and..." He trailed off and shrugged as Lacus laughed and hugged him happily again.

"You know that won't happen." She said softly.

Kira looked down at her smiling happily, and nodded.

"So how goes rehearsal?" A voice called from the back. They turned to find Athrun's silhouette outlined by light standing at the doorway.

"Athrun! We weren't expecting you." Kira said, walking up the aisles in the audience to greet him.

"Figured I'd find you guys here so I thought I'd pop in." He shrugged, stepping into the light. "You guys ready to go now?"

"Uh huh." Lacus replied, gathering her things in her bag. Looking up, she noticed that Athrun's face didn't seem as bright as it usually was.

"Something must have happened..." She thought, looking at Kira, who seemed to have noticed it too.

Together the there of them walked into the parking lot, agreeing to go eat at their favorite Italian place. As Kira and Lacus walked towards Kira's car, Lacus gave him another look.

"Does Athrun look?..."

"I know." Kira sighed. "But don't bring it up. He'll tell us if he wants to. No need to pry."

Lacus nodded in agreement and hopped into the passenger side of the car, as Kira opened the door for her.

* * *

Athrun sat down with a heavy sigh, unable to stop thinking about what had happened this morning. It was a bit much to digest, in such a short amount of time. 

Wait a minute.

What was he THINKING?

He can't see a girl he barely knew anymore. So what?

He laughed to himself, refusing to let his emotions win this time, and tried to start the car.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Even his car was mad now... Frowning, he whipped out his cell and dialed Kira's number.

"So then... you wanna take my car?" Kira suggested, after hearing the situation.

"No it's fine. You two go ahead. I'm going home... today's been a pretty messed up day anyways." Athrun sighed in submission.

"Want a ride home?" Kira offered.

"I'll take the subway, then just call for a tow truck to haul my car to a shop or garage or something. No problem. You guys go ahead." He insisted.

"If you're sure..." Kira started.

"I am. Go ahead, and have a good night guys." Athrun confirmed, then hung up and got out of his car, heading for the nearest subway.

* * *

Cagalli sat in the subway car, with an open book in her lap, but not really reading it. Instead, she simply stared at the pages, random thoughts drifting in and out of her head. Sometimes when the train pulled into a station, she'd look out the window at the people standing there. 

Sighing, she looked back down at the book. What was wrong with her today?... The image of a certain blue-haired, laptop-toting, young man sprung to mind, but she blinked it away.

"Should have told him my name anyways..." She muttered grumpily.

* * *

Athrun grabbed his train token and pushed his way through the gate, just as a subway car pulled up. Glancing at it for a second, he checked to see where it was heading. North... Nope not his. About to take a seat in the waiting area, he suddenly froze as his eyes caught sight of blonde hair... 

And a very familiar face...

Her!

Diving towards the train, he broke into a run, trying to thread his way through the torrent of people rushing out of the train. Even though it wasn't his train, and he had no idea what he'd do if he ran in there…

_If I could just catch her attention somehow…_

But she had just turned away from the window, looking at something in her lap...

_If only she would turn around, just look in my direction… _

If he could just catch her damned attention!

How had he done it before? Agh that wouldn't work, he couldn't order a coffee from her at a subway station!

Athrun bumped into someone too hard, almost knocking them over. Stopping momentarily to steady them, he turned to see the doors closing. He opened his mouth to shout, but what? He didn't know her name!

"H-HEY!" Athrun called out desperately. Something, anything to get her to notice him. To his surprise, she suddenly jerked her head up, as if startled.

* * *

Cagalli stared at her book, trying to remember what she had been reading... Was this even the right page?... 

Absorbed in her thoughts, she was pulled out of them suddenly, as a familiar voice called out. Scanning the crowd, she looked out the window to see...

* * *

Athrun's heart lifted a bit, as he saw her turn in his direction, her eyes widening. He made another mad dash for the doors, checking to see that her gaze was following him. He wanted to call out again, but... what was her name! 

Scrambling towards the train car, he watched in horror as the moment he reached the train…

The doors to shut securely in his face.

Jumping back quickly, he looked back through the window, and found her sitting there and staring at him.

* * *

Cagalli sat there, frozen to her seat. She didn't know what to do... There he was. Just standing there and looking at her. She felt the train him a slight jerk and begin to pick up speed, as she was gradually pulled away from him. 

Unsure of what to do, but wanting to do something, her automatic reaction upon seeing him was to bring him a coffee… what the hell? Smiling slightly, Cagalli lifted her hand and waved a bit at him instead. Time seemed to slow, as she watched him gradually wake from shock, then smile a little and wave back. Suddenly, he cupped his hand around his mouth and shouted something that:

"Ath…"

* * *

"run…" He finished… 

... Just as she disappeared from view.

Frustration set in as he remembered that as soon as he called out, she'd noticed him. And if only he'd known her name, he could have called out earlier. But the time went too fast, and before he could react... She was gone.

Feeling tired, Athrun walked over to a bench, and crumpled onto it, not caring about the fact that he had just scared 50 odd some people that were waiting for a train by screaming like his life depended on it. Truth be told, he had no idea why he had been so desperate either… Steadying his shaky elbows on his knees he looked down at the hand he had just waved to her with, his hair falling forward and blocking sight of his face. He drew in a deep breath and frowned a bit.

"I told you yesterday… that I'd tell you today..."

"My name is Athrun…"

* * *

**((dodges raw eggs thrown by disgruntled readers))**

**Sorry! But it had to happen sometime! They can't just live happily ever after! And I'm not going to separate them one chapter, just to bring them together again at the end. I hope that was still somewhat suspenseful though. Heh...**

**As for this chapter in general, I do believe that I'm getting back to my usual lengthily chapters now. No idea how long the next chapter will be though, as I haven't really planned it out yet. **

**Thank you very much to those who reviewed the last chapter. The time you took to drop some thoughts was very much appreciated. I thoroughly enjoyed reading such lovely comments: **

**rain angst , Lems, purple1, new moongirl, Belle, Athrun-n-Cagalli , kura52, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, astrocosmos, daisukechibi, KiraFreedom, gseedlover, taijiya-sango88, psycogirl234, Freyris, XxbuffyxX, mariad, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, Smoke-Angel, Cagalli-01, MXCrocks, koali alolao, The Angels' Princess, Maryam Khanoom, Torri-Chiobie, Living Arrow, stuntsheep, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, animemistress419**

**Much thanks to the readers as well, for following through with the story. I know it's been rather slow, but I'm hoping from here I can get it to pick up a bit. Other than that, there's not much else to say. **

**Until next week then!**


	5. Confusing Confrontations

**Hello, Hello my dear readers. I once again, have to apologize 1000 times for not updating a day earlier like I said I would, but rather, almost a day later. The reason being that I am in the process of college applications, which are hell to deal with. So, unfortunately next week I probably will not be updating. I have a really old one shot sitting on my hard-drive from a few months back that I might throw up, just to fill the space, but no advancements will be made for, "Waiting On You". Once more, I'm terribly sorry about this, but I like to keep my chapters long, so pulling out the time to write next week looks pretty darn near impossible.**

* * *

Kira leaned casually against the red brick side of a building, periodically glancing at his watch. Suddenly, her felt two hands cover his eyes… 

"Guess who?"

"Christina? No wait…. Kathy. Definitely Ka-ow!" He yelped as Lacus pinched his arm.

"No teasing." Lacus pouted playfully. Kira grinned and rubbed his arm, then enveloped her in a hug.

"What's on the agenda for today?"

"Just a walk." Lacus replied, talking his hand and pulling him down the street.

"How's life treating you?" Kira asked in a relaxed tone of voice.

"Fine. The play's coming along really well."

"Mm, that's good. How's the cast?"

"Great. Really supportive and open. They'd be great at improve… well one of them worries me a bit but that's it." Lacus added after a pause

"Oh? Who would that be?"

Lacus looked at her hands with a slightly sad and sympathetic tone of voice. "Meer…"

"Meer? Wasn't she that girl that made herself look exactly like you? Your understudy?"

"Mmm… But lately she's just been a bit too… how should I put this? Obsessive? Well, you'll see what I mean." She sighed. Kira gave her a mild look of concern. "It's fine, Kira." Lacus insisted.

Pulling him over to an ice cream stand, she tried to shrug her worries out of her mind. Which wasn't too difficult, considering Kira was with her, and he always provided a healthy distraction from her hectic life.

"Lacus? What do you want?" Kira asked, pointing to the list of flavors.

"Hm? Oh, honestly Kira by now I'd think you'd know what I want!" Lacus teased.

"Well I thought you might want a change or something. They have new flavors… Banana Nut Crunch… Chocolate Toffee. Ha, Cagalli would love that."

"Cagalli? Really?"

"Yeah, she's a huge fan of chocolate and sweets." Kira laughed, "Once, she ate all of her Easter candy in a day. That includes the two pound solid chocolate bunny. Our mother was furious…"

Lacus joined him in laughing. "Sounds good to me. Maybe I will try Chocolate Toffee…"

"You sure? They have Chocolate Fondue Strawberry…" Kira pointed out, prodding at her weakness for strawberries.

"Really? I wouldn't mind trying something different after all…" She smiled happily.

* * *

Athrun strolled down the now familiar halls of the Drama wing, down to the auditorium. Despite how often he came here, he still had difficulty navigating his way backstage, which was more or less a complete maze for anyone wasn't doing tech for the show. 

Opening the door into the stage, he was remotely puzzled to find absolutely no one. Looking around, it appeared that there was no one there at all. The lights weren't even on.

"Looking for something?" a familiar voice asked. Athrun spun around to find…

"Lacus?"

The young lady's face brightened up at the sound of Lacus' name, then shook her head, almost sadly. "Nope. Meer. I forgot something here… but there's no rehearsal today. An entire set of stage lights burned out, and they need to wait for the replacement bulbs to come. Are you looking for Miss Clyne?"

"Err, yeah sort of. More her boyfriend than her. But I mean, I figured I'd find them together." Athrun scratched his head then laughed a bit. "But I guess I'm definitely not going to find them here.

"Sorry I can't be of more help…" Meer sighed apologetically. "I'm not really much of a substitute am I?

Athrun raised an eyebrow. Substitute? What on earth did that-

"Say… I was wondering if you could do me a favor. A huge one. You don't 'have it, it's just that. Well I want to know more about Ms. Clyne. She's such a fantastic actress, and I just don't feel like a proper understudy." Meer looked down sadly. Athrun stared at her. As awkward as it might be… Well it couldn't hurt could it? He still had another half-hour for lunch.

"Sure." He shrugged. Meer perked up.

"You-You mean it! You'll really talk to me! And help me out!"

Athrun nodded again. "Absolutely. I don't have a lot of time, but I'll do what I can."

"Ooooo thank you so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate this!" She jabbered gleefully. "I'll treat you to lunch. Come on!"

Grabbing him by the arm, she dragged him out the building before he could respond. Something told him this was going to take longer than he'd thought…

* * *

Cagalli sighed, smoothening out her shirt. She leaned against the bar at the new restaurant she worked at, surveying the almost empty dining room. As much as she liked her new job, because it was closer and paid better, it just wasn't as fun sometimes. For starters, because the restaurant was more formal, there was a dress code. No casual wear on the job. White on top and black on the bottom: Or look at least semi-formal. 

Then there was the fact that she couldn't lounge around and socialize with customers. She waited on their tables, advised them on what dishes were good, chatted lightly as her usual friendly self, but other than that didn't really converse with them.

"It's just not the same…" She sighed. In the back of her head, a quiet voice kept telling her that it was more than just the job. There was something different. Actually different. But what?

_Ath…_

Yeah yeah, "Ath" whatever. That day on the subway, all she had been able to catch was "Ath", before the sound of the train grew too loud and she was too far away to hear anything. She didn't even know if that was his name. He could have been yelling anything! In the middle of a crowded subway station too!

"What… an idiot…" she chuckled softly to herself.

* * *

"_I really am an idiot, aren't I?"_ Athrun thought to himself, as he sat at his table with Meer. Though she really was a perfectly nice girl, agreeing to talk to her when he only had half an hour was absurd. Especially when he had no car, and would have to take the subway back to work. There was no way he'd make it on time. 

Glancing nervously at his watch, he noted the time. 20 minutes had already passed, and Meer was still grilling him with questions about Lacus, showing no signs of stopping. She was even taking notes!

"_And I just wanted some coffee…"_He sighed, chin resting on his palm, which was propped up by his elbow. Instantly he thought of that blonde: He hadn't seen her since that day on the subway almost two weeks ago, and he'd been taking the subway every day. It was as if she'd disappeared. _"Wonder if she heard my name…"_

"Athrun? Are you all right? Is the food okay? Sorry it's not that great, but I wanted to go to a place close by, that had fast service. Guess it's not the best stuff…" She poked at her grilled cheese sandwich.

"It's fine…" he smiled sympathetically. "Look Meer. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I mean, I've got to get back to work. If you need details, just ask Lacus. She'd be glad to help."

Meer nodded. "Well, thank you for your help thus far. I'm a bit embarrassed to ask Ms. Clyne though, so I might ask you for more help. But I promise to ask at a better time!"

"That sounds fine." Athrun nodded, then stood up to go.

"Wait! So then when should we meet again?" Instantly, Meer's arm shot over, knocking over her glass of grape juice and spilling it onto Athrun's shirt.

"Wha-! Oh CRAP!" Athrun exclaimed, reflexively. Meer grabbed a napkin and began mopping up the mess, as Athrun dabbed at his shirt.

"_This isn't going to come out…. I can't go back to work looking like this!"_ Athrun's mind raced in panic, as his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Meanwhile, Meer was apologizing furiously. A waiter had rushed over to help clean. Athrun looked around quickly, checking if the situation was under control.

"Meer… I… I've got to go."

"No! I'm so sorry Athrun, I really am! I'll buy you a new shirt, I swear. Where did you get that?"

"Italy! You can't replace this!" Athrun cried out in frustration.

"I'm SO sorry, Athrun!" Meer apologized, looking inches from tears. "Is there anything I can do?"

"It's fine. Just… take care of this. I have to go to work." He sighed, grabbing his jacket and jetting out the door. Meer stood there for a moment, watching him run down the street. She sighed and frowned, looking at the mess left on the table.

"What have I done?..."

* * *

Kira helped Lacus into his car, then walked over to the driver's side and hopped in. 

"Where to now?"

"Home." She sighed. "I'm tired… I think I'll take a nap or something."

"A nap? That's boring. Pick something we can do together first." Kira laughed. He barely ever got to spend time with her these days.

"Mmm… how about a movie?

"You want to rent a movie?"

"No… we could just rent one…"

"Hm. There's a possibility. Any other suggestions?"

"We could… um… just watch… some… old…movies…"

Kira could barely hear the last few words, as he glanced over and saw that she had already fallen asleep. "She works too hard… must be exhausted…."

Turning his attention back onto the road, he chuckled a bit.

"Or maybe I'm just a really boring date..."

* * *

Athrun frowned, staring at the stain on his shirt. He couldn't go back to work like this… his mind started turning, weighting the options. Technically he COULD just go back to work, but that would definitely be the last resort. He could just take off the shirt… ugh ever worse. If only he could find a change of clothes… buy a new shirt? No good: no money on him and where would he change? 

Kira's! Of course!

Kira's apartment wasn't far form here, and he still had the key from when he was house-sitting. He could just run in there, grab a shirt to change into, then tell Kira about it. Perfect!

Running down the street, he didn't stop until he had reached Kira's apartment where he burst in, and headed straight for Kira's bedroom. Looking around he was a bit puzzled. There was more stuff in the living room than before…

Suddenly it hit him. Of course, Kira's sister had moved in. What if she came home now… Ah, what are the chances? Praying that Cagalli was at work or something too, Athrun walked over to the door, and closed it.

* * *

Cagalli walked up the stairs to her apartment, fully ready to unwind. Her boss had given her the rest of the day off, since business was slow and who was she to argue? Curiously she found that the door as unlocked… 

"I guess I forgot to lock it or something?" she tilted her head to the side. Stepping into the apartment she took a quick survey of the place. Everything seemed to be in order…

"Kira?" She called out, shutting the door tightly. Frowning a bit, she tried to shrug away her paranoia, and dropped her bag onto the kitchen counter. Strolling over to the bathroom, she decided to take a quick shower before making some food and vegging out on the sofa. Taking one last glance around, she eyed the closed door directly opposite the bathroom, that lead into Kira's room, then shut the bathroom door tightly.

* * *

Athrun pulled a shirt out of Kira's closet, then looked up sharply. Odd… he could swear he had just heard a voice… He approached the door warily then carefully inched it open. 

Nothing…

Eyebrows furrowed, he once more closed the door and began to change.

* * *

Cagalli stopped and turned sharply. She was about to start taking off her pants when she could SWEAR a door just closed. But from where?... 

Wrapping a towel around her half-dressed self, she poked her head out the bathroom door.

"Hello?... Kira?" She called. She waited a moment, and when nothing happened, she closed the door warily again, then stood by it, hand on the doorknob, ready to act if she heard anything again.

* * *

Athrun froze. Okay that time for SURE he heard something. It sounded something like "Kira". Could it be that Kira was back? 

Tiredly, he bolted to the door and swung it open widely, finding the bathroom door closed. But it looked like light was seeping through the crack at the bottom…

Carefully, he approached it and knocked on the door.

* * *

Cagalli froze. Someone was knocking on the bathroom door! But it HAD to be Kira. A burglar wouldn't knock, right? 

"If he's playing some weird fifth grade games, I'm going to kill him…" She sighed. Frustrated with this endless game of hide and seek, she swung open the door and…

* * *

Screamed. 

Really, really loudly.

Athrun could FEEL his eardrums burst. In all honesty he probably shouted out too, but his cry of surprise was drowned out my Cagalli's bellowing. Then there was the fact that Athrun was in so much shock that he didn't really move, but merely shut his eyes and cringed. She screamed again.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT?" Cagalli screamed. Athrun snapped out of his shock, opened an eye testily and suddenly realized who he was looking at. What was the waitress doing here!

"Wha… WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN KIRA'S APARTMENT!"

"I LIVE HERE YOU SICK STALKER!" Cagalli pointed accusingly.

"I'M NOT A STALKER! MY BEST FRIEND LIVES HERE!" Athrun yelled back.

"I'M NOT YOUR BEST FRIEND!"

"I KNOW YOU AREN'T!"

* * *

Cagalli almost fainted, before her temper took over. She KNEW it was weird how she's seen him at the subway! This creep was FOLLOWING her! 

Reaching into the bathroom, she grabbed a bottle of lotion and…

* * *

THREW it at him! She literally THREW a bottle of LOTION at him! Was she insane! 

"OW! Watch where you're chucking that!" Athrun cried, stumbling backwards and ducking for cover.

"Looks like my aim was dead-on to me!" Cagalli shot back, grabbing a hairbrush this time. Athrun backed away hastily hands raised in defense.

"Look… this is all a misunderstanding. I have the key! See!" He insisted, dangling the key to the apartment.

"What the-? That's SICK! Get out! And put on a SHIRT for god's sake!" Cagalli hollered, blushing a bit at her last sentence.

"Wha… You're not exactly fully dressed either!" Athrun protested, turning away to avoid embarrassing either of them any further, and hiding his red face.

"I'm wearing some clothes underneath!" Cagalli blushed ever harder and turned away for a moment. Athrun took this split second to dash into Kira's room and grab Kira's pale blue shirt, then hastily put it on while running out the door.

Cagalli, too stunned to react, simply threw the brush at the door as Athrun closed it, while leaving the apartment.

* * *

Athrun straightened out the cuff to Kira's shirt, pulling on sleeve to smooth out any wrinkles while running down the stairs… Why was that waitress in Kira's apartment! And why did she say she lived there? The only people that live there are Kira and his sister! 

…

His sister…

Oh my God, his SISTER!

Athrun gripped the railing for balance.

Then this whole time. This whole time he'd been thinking about her, wondering what she was doing, who her BROTHER was, what her NAME was…

"She just moved here… from studying abroad. She goes to the local university… her brother is Kira…" Athrun breathed, panting hard, either from dodging bathroom supplies or running down stairs, or realizing the astonishing truth.

"And her name is...Cagalli."

* * *

Who as soon as Athrun had been forcibly kicked out from the premises, locked the door, double bolted it, then plopped down onto the couch. She closed her eyes and let her head roll back, as her brain began to process the events that has just happened. 

What on earth was that guy doing here? What a stalker! And then he claims that his best friend lives here! When obviously the only people that live here are her and…

Kira.

Kira has a best friend…

A best friend named… something like…

Ath…

Cagalli's eyes shot open, then widened until she felt like they were going to burst. Her head turned slowly towards the securely locked door.

"On the subway… he said something like 'Ath'…. Kira's best friends' name is…

Athrun?..."

* * *

**Oh, MAN did I have fun writing this. Sorry it took so long for them to figure it out. Some of the reviewers kept commenting on how they couldn't wait when Kira introduced them, and I could only chuckle, because for a LONG time now, this was how I planned for them to finallyget it.**

**Now, one of the reviewers did mention that Cagalli HAS in fact, introduced herself to Athrun. So why on earth did he not know/remember her name? Well think of it this way: Do you remember the name of your waiter when you last went to a restaurant? **

**Stating your name is so standard, that few people pay attention, and even fewer bother to really remember. Cagalli was just saying it as a courtesy sort of thing, and Athrun didn't really bother to pay much attention to it. If you still don't buy it, then my apologies. Just forget that she ever said it. Haha. **

**Thank you very much to my lovely reviewers of Chapter 4: **

**tototo, Unknown, Watermiral, Ra1n DaNc3r, IYGU, clumsykelli, MyouseiSeed, Freyris, Smoke-Angel, animemistress419, new moongirl, kura52, daisukechibi, koali alolao, XxbuffyxX, rain angst, Cherry360, cloudy mind, Belle, PaperFish, anon, Satu-chan, taijiya-sango88, thousandbirds, give me food, MissRule, KiraFreedom, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, purple1, Torri-Chiobie, strawberriez, Living Arrow, Athrun-n-Cagalli, gseedlover, Asakura Miyu, stuntsheep, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, FreedomElf, The Angels' Princess, Eternally Asuka, Michiyo Hikari, MXCrocks, asga, Maryam Khanoom, SeungLee**

**I really do value your input and love to hear what you guys have to say, and encourage everyone to drop a word. Also, thank you to my readers, just for keeping up with and supporting this story. **

**Once more, sorry about next week! I will however, definitely get Chapter 6 up, the week after that, hopefully a day early. **


	6. Final Introductions

**Once more, I have failed up uphold my promise. The day early thing, ugh, I'm just not going to bother declaring specific dates, because I'm just getting really very horrible with them. But one week updates, give or take a day. That's what I'm sticking to from now on. **

**Onwards!**

* * *

"_Cagalli's free this weekend. Want to get together?"_

Athrun stared at his text message and sighed. It had been 2 weeks since the bathroom/lotion bottle/blue shirt/hair brush incident: Thus far, he'd been avoiding Kira like the plague. Firstly, he might run into Cagalli. Secondly, Kira might kill him for breaking into his apartment, then opening the door on his sister, who he could only imagine was about to take a shower. But from the message he could guess that Cagalli hadn't told him about what had happened either…

….Not that it mattered. He still couldn't see her! It's the girl he'd chased around for a week. The waitress he'd grown attached to.

…His best friend's SISTER.

Athrun head hit his desk, and a few of his co-workers turned to see what had happened. Lifting his face, he waved to let them know he was alright. Then looked at his cellphone again.

_Cagalli's free_

Well obviously. If she wasn't Kira wouldn't have texted him.!

_This weekend… _

Why so soon? It was too soon!

_Get together?..._

That is if she doesn't tear me limb from limb from running in on her. Not that I'd meant to. It just happened!

…_Want to?_

Maybe. Just… a little.

To see Kira and Lacus of course. Pondering for another moment, Athrun pressed a few buttons, stared at what he'd written and stopped. Staring at the 4 letters he'd entered, he thought for a moment. Was this a good idea?...

He stared at the phone some more… then pressed send.

* * *

_Your message has been sent to: Kira_

"_Sure."_

_

* * *

_

Kira whipped out his cell phone and flipped it open.

_"Sure."_

Bingo. He turned to Lacus, who was leaning over his shoulder and peering at the screen.

"So then we're on for Saturday?"

"Mm, guess so." He shrugged.

"Great. I can finally meet Cagalli" Lacus laughed a bit. "I was beginning to doubt if you even had a sister."

Kira smiled a bit, then pocketed his cell phone. "Why would I lie about that?" He took her hand and sighed. It had been a long time though. From Cagalli's job, to everyone being busy, he had begun to wonder if they would ever be able to all meet up. But something else had disturbed him.

The past two weeks, they hadn't seen Athrun or heard from him at all. This was literally the first message they'd gotten from him. Coincidently, the past two weeks Cagalli had also been keeping herself unusually busy, and every time he asked her if she would be free to meet Lacus and Athrun, she'd freeze up and stare at him like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

And his blue shirt was missing. He could swear he just got it cleaned...

"Kira?" Lacus' concerned voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Something wrong?"

Kira shook his head. "Not at all. Just thinking about this weekend."

* * *

Cagalli stared at her cell phone.

Oh. Hell. NO!

She swore under her breath, keeping her temper under control as she was still at work, but just on a break. Kira had said she was going to meet LACUS this weekend. But now Athrun's tagging along!

Her hand clenched, until the cell phone cover threatened to crack. Shoving it back into her bag, she marched back into the dining room, to continue waiting on tables.

With a bit of a smile... just a bit.

* * *

On said weekend, the four of them arranged to meet in a park, then decide where to go from there. A certain dark haired young man leaned casually against a large tree. Bending down, he picked up a few acorns, and began tossing them in the air, seeing how many he could catch at once. So he was early... half an hour early. That didn't mean anything. He was just eager to see Kira and Lacus again.

But there was one thing that had been nagging at his mind for a very long time. What if it WASN'T her?

Well she was in Kira's HOUSE. But it all seemed too much of a coincidence. There was just no way he was willing to accept it that easily. Maybe she just LOOKED like the waitress... after all with the bottle being thrown at him he didn't get a very good look at her face.

But that attitude, and voice. There was no mistaking it... was there?

He tugged at his hair in mild frustration.

"It doesn't matter." He sighed. "What happened, happened. But if it is her... how am I going to explain this?"

* * *

"What the hell was Kira thinking! 'I have to go pick up Lacus...' He could at least tell me where this damn place was!" Cagalli fumed to herself. Though Kira had told her where everyone was meeting, he had failed to tell her how to get there, and she wasn't familiar with the area. Hence, she left about an hour early, just in case. Turns out it wasn't AS difficult to get here as she had thought, but had she not asked for directions a few hundred or so times, she could be halfway to Mexico by now and have no clue.

Checking her watch, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was early. Still time to find exactly where she was supposed to go...

She glanced down at the shopping bag in her hand. Even though it might be awkward, she felt obliged to give Lacus something, just as a courtesy on a first meeting.

As for... HIM... if her assumptions were correct, then this WOULDN'T be the first meeting at all. In fact, she'd given him a bagel! That was enough.

"Unless it's not him..." She frowned a bit. Pausing she shook her head.

"I'm losing it. Who else has BLUE HAIR!"

But what was she going to do when she saw him? Act like it's a first meeting? Or just come out and say that they'd met before? The best option would be to wait and see how he plays it out… and what he does, then just follow along with it. Then later they could figure out what to do...

And why on earth was this so complicated? Maybe it's not him... She could have just seen wrong. Her eyes playing a strange trick on herself.

A part of her would feel relieved, that she had been stressing over nothing...

And a part of her... felt something else. Because there would be nothing.

* * *

Athrun sighed, and glanced at his watch again. Still nobody.

"Don't tell me I'm THAT early..." He frowned. Looking up, he scanned the area for any sign of a familiar face.

Or head...

A very distinctive bright blond head of hair...

Athrun froze momentarily. He could walk up to her: She looks lost. But what would he say?

Not that he had time to decide, because before he knew it, his legs were already moving, as if they had a mind of their own.

"Well... here goes nothing."

* * *

A sleek black car screeched hurriedly into a parking space. As soon as it came to a full stop, a side door was flung open and flurry of pink burst out. Shortly after, the door on the other side was opened in a similar fashion, then promptly shut.

Lacus tore down the sidewalk, as Kira ran to catch up to her. Passing her, he planted himself firmly in front of her to form a human roadblock.

"Lacus! Relax! We're still early." He insisted.

"I know... but I want to get there early. What if your sister gets there before us? Wouldn't that make a bad impression?"

"Trust me, Cagalli's NOT going to get there early." Kira laughed.

"Oh?"

"Yes. I'm positive." Kira nodded firmly.

"Then... who's that blond girl Athrun's walking up to?"

* * *

Cagalli halted her step suddenly and looked around. Where the hell WAS this place?... Oak corner... Oak corner...

She poked at her gift to Lacus. Was it an okay gift? She didn't really know what to buy, so she got something that could be appreciated by most people, pretty easily. One of those collections of all the bath stuff that smelled like whatever it was supposed to smell like. In this case, some sort of lavender that Cagalli wasn't too fond of, but it was the least strong out of al the ones she'd seen.

Raising the violet cellophane wrapped gift to eye level, she squinted a bit, as if inspecting it meticulously. What is Lacus thought it was an insult? Like she should shower more?... Suddenly, the gift coughed.

Or rather, someone standing behind the gift coughed.

Lowering the package slowly, her eyes widened as she gazed at the blue-haired man before her, standing ever so casually with his left hand in his jacket pocket. Cagalli almost dropped the gift in shock.

Or was it relief?

* * *

"Hey." Athrun spoke lamely. But what else was there to say?

"Hi." Cagalli replied, trying unsuccessfully to hide the surprise and shakiness of her voice.

Awkward...

"Kira's... sister, I presume?"

Cagalli nodded and shuffled a bit. "And you must be..."

"ATHRUN!" A voice bellowed from behind them. The nervous pair turned to see Kira running towards them, Lacus trailing slightly behind.

"Hello. I hope we didn't keep you waiting." Lacus smiled, finally catching up.

"Not at all." Cagalli replied warmly. "A small gift, it's nothing much."

"How thoughtful! Thank you very much." Lacus remarked.

"Okay guys, enough with the formalities. You all know each other's names, yes?" Kira clarified. Everyone nodded, then Athrun and Cagalli shot each other a quick glance, not escaping the watchful eye of a certain pink-haired actress. "All right then let's go get something to eat." Kira finished, and the four of them made their way out of the park.

* * *

"And so that's how Kira and I met." Athrun concluded. Cagalli and Lacus gave a mock applause.

"How cute!" Lacus laughed. "I never knew any of that."

The four of them were seated at a nearby cafe, sipping drinks and sharing stories.

"Where to after this?" Cagalli asked.

"A movie?" Kira suggested.

"A movie doesn't help get to know people better. What's something that can be a group activity?" Lacus pondered.

"How about just a walk?" Athrun offered. A waiter came by and passed him another cup of coffee.

"You shouldn't drink so much Athrun." Kira noted, "It's not good for your health."

"Well it's better than alcohol, right?" Athrun shrugged, and then laughed a bit. Cagalli was leaning against the table on her elbows, and watched as Athrun brought the cup to his mouth.

"Wait!" She exclaimed, starling Kira and Lacus and almost making Athrun spill his drink.

"Wha-What?" Athrun asked, staring at his cup.

"You didn't put enough sugar in there... You'll want another half a spoonful." She noted, reaching across the table for the sugar. Athrun gaped. Kira and Lacus stared, turned to each other, blinked, then looked back to the strange pair who seemed completely unaware of how abnormal their current conversation was.

"I think I know how much sugar to put in my own coffee." Athrun chuckled.

"No no, trust me. You'll like it more... Here take a sip now."

Athrun obediently did as ordered. Kira and Lacus continued staring.

Cagalli reached over, and dumped another half spoonful into his cup, then stirred a few times clockwise.

"Now try it again."

Athrun regarded his cup with apprehension, then tilted the cup towards him and tasted it. Kira and Lacus leaned forward in their chairs.

Silence...

"Well?"

"Mm. It does taste better." Athrun admitted, then smiled. Cagalli beamed.

"See? Never argue with me over this." She grinned.

"Duly noted." He chuckled.

"Um, guys? Hate to intrude..." Kira started. Athrun and Cagalli turned to Kira and Lacus, as if noticed they were there for the first time.

"Yes?"

"Cagalli... how did you know how much SUGAR to put in his coffee?"

All conversation ceased for a moment. A blush began to creep up on two sets of cheeks. Cagalli turned away, and Athrun chugged more coffee.

"Waitress'... instinct. He looks like a guy that could use more sugar." She mumbled lamely. Kira's eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.

Lacus sat back in her chair and absorbed the situation.

_"Interesting..."_

"Shall we get started on our walk?" Lacus suggested.

* * *

As it turned out, the four of them ended up walking for hours. Athrun and Cagalli carefully avoided any questions regarding how they seemed to know so much about each other, and before they knew it, the moon has started glowing upon the dark tapestry of the night sky. A streetlight flicked on and off towards the end of the road. Kira and Lacus were walking back to Kira's car after the long walk around the park, and were going to go back to pick up Cagalli and Athrun. Kira took Lacus' hand and approached his car.

"Fun day, huh?"

"Absolutely. I love your sister! She's so energetic!" Lacus laughed.

"Thought you'd like her." Kira smiled.

"Hey... did you notice today too? How Athrun was acting?" She dropped casually, sliding into the passenger seat.

Kira nodded. "They seem like they know each other well..."

"How strange... Isn't your sister a waitress?"

"Yes, but... what a coincidence that would be!" He remarked, laughing a bit.

"But the way he was acting..."

"Mm." Kira nodded. "He was... happier."

"Your sister, seems like the type of person that can do that to people." Lacus noted thoughtfully. Kira nodded in agreement.

"She is... But you know what makes me happiest?" Kira asked with a smirk.

"What?" Lacus joked, knowing something cheesy was about to happen. He grinned.

"Definitely, you."

* * *

Cagalli sat on top of the brick perimeter of the park, ankles crossed and hands planted firmly on either side of her. The wall rose just high enough so that when she sat on it, her legs were about two feet off the ground. Athrun leaned against it instead.

"So then..." Athrun started awkwardly. _Here we go..._ "About two weeks ago…"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to apologize?"

"There's a start."

Athrun smiled weakly, and continued. "I sort of… I mean I had no idea. I just needed a new shirt. Which I have yet to explain to Kira."

Cagalli nodded absentmindedly. "You should tell him. He's been looking for it."

Athrun blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Why haven't you told him?"

"Well then I'd have to explain why I know his shirt is gone." She shrugged.

"Oh… and where's my shirt?"

"I have it." She stated. Athrun's eyebrows rose a bit. Noting this, Cagalli's face heated up, in contrast to the cool air. She uncrossed her ankles, then re-crossed them the other way, tapping the wall as he legs swung. "Not that I want it… I just didn't think having it lying around would have been a good idea."

Athrun grinned. "Of course."

A pause…

"I never properly introduced myself, did I?" Cagalli sighed, gradually becoming chattier. "I mean... besides as a waitress."

Athrun shook his head. "And neither have I. Minus the waitress bit."

"Funny that it turns out like this. I wonder what would have happened if we'd known who we were sooner." The blonde thought aloud. Athrun shrugged and turned to her.

"Do you think much else would be different?"

Cagalli looked at his face, which looked relatively exhausted. "No." she decided. "After all, you're still you, and I'd still be me."

"Exactly." Athrun agreed. "What's in a name?"

Cagalli hopped off the wall and dusted off a pant leg. Then, she turned to him, extending her right hand.

"Well then, before they come to pick us up. Time for a proper introduction."

Athrun looked at her hand, then at her face, which was smiling in cheerful innocence. A grin broke onto his face.

"I'm Athrun." He nodded, extending his hand towards her.

"I'm Cagalli." she replied, taking it.

"It's... very nice to meet you." They spoke in unison, with a firm shake.

And it's good…"

"And I'm happy…"

Both of them blinked suddenly and looked at each other. Athrun's eyes smiled gently, and Cagalli's warmly responded.

"To see you again."

* * *

**Sorry if that seemed like a slow chapter for anyone, but I'd rather cut it off here, and just have one solid chapter for a good meeting. Not much to comment on in this chapter, I feel like it was pretty straight forward. Only thing would be that originally I planned to actually have Athrun tell the story of when he first met Kira, but I couldn't think of anything remotely interesting. Forgive me for lack of scene transitions or inconsistency. This was written in random spurts, so if anything doesn't match up, take whatever is mentioned most often as truth.**

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers from the last chapter. **

**Orange Noel, tha lil' angel, Super Greek, animemistress419, MyouseiSeed, KiraFreedom, Tiger Shinigami, Athrun-n-Cagalli, new moongirl, XxbuffyxX, animeluver, mehmehbaaaa, PaolaAdara, Belle, kristin, rain angst, give me food, KaguyaEvenstar, asucaginluv, astrocosmos, taijiya-sango88, psycogirl234, ochibi-san, daisukechibi, IGYU, thousandbirds, Dinkus, Smoke-Angel, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, koali alolao, clumsykelli, Michiyo Hikari, Living Arrow, Cagalli-01, purple1, Eternally Asuka, Mika-chan, stuntsheep, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, Torri-Chiobie - Suicidal Knife.KILLA KILLA KILLA YOU, gseedlover, HimeHikari, Unknown, cloudy mind, The Angels' Princess, kura52, Maryam Khanoom, MissRule, FreedomElf, asga, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn.**

**The number of reviewers never ceases to amaze me. You guys are just awesome. Your support and advice is much appreciated. Also thank you to the casual reader. I just love having such a wonderful audience, reading my random babbling.**

**Until next chapter, take care!**


	7. Falling Folly

**Right now, I'm feeling so great because I'm done with my early decision application! Now I just have to shovel my way through a ton of tests and projects and I'll have an easier life, which hopefully means more time to write. Or more time to torture myself waiting for the acceptance or rejection letter to come in the mail. XP**

**On the plus side, this chapter is pretty long compared to other chapters thus far.**

**Now enough of my inane babbling; it's the start of a new chapter!_ Continuons_! **

* * *

Cagalli stared at the microwave's bright green display. 12:30, it read, the colon blinking annoyingly. 

12:30… Usually she'd be at work by now, but today she had the day off, one of the perks of the new job being that employees got a lot more time off. The sad part was that she didn't know what to do with it. Other then sleep in and polish of a box of cookie dough ice cream, she had accomplished basically nothing for the entire morning.

It had been so long since she'd had free time she'd forgotten how to enjoy it. What was there to do? For the entire almost half year she'd been here, never once did she really go out and explore the city. She just never had time... and also...

Where was she supposed to start?

Basics… basics would be nice. She'd like to join a gym... Like she had when she was in France. Get herself set up back into some routine. With the new job she had a lot more free time to looks forward to. Time to start setting new goals, and getting a personal life.

Dashing into her room with new found energy, she dug her way through her drawers until she found a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. Then quickly flipping through the phone book for gyms in the area, she found one and was off.

* * *

Athrun's fingers paused for a moment, poised and hovering above his laptop's keyboard. His eyes skimmed the last line he'd type, his mouth frowned, and his hand quickly moved to delete it. 

Leaning back into his chair he sighed. Just a regular slow-ish day at the company. Technically he didn't have to do this now. But it was better to get it done...

Then again working for over five hours on a single document probably wasn't great for one's health either... Checking the time he raised an eyebrow. 12:30.

Tapping on the "F" key impatiently while weighing his options, he saved the document and stuffed his laptop into his bag. He could go for lunch, maybe find something else to do. After all, he was almost finished with this one. He needed maybe another half hour or so. Not that he had a problem with working... he'd prefer to get it done. But then a certain face would pop into his head and scold him for being a workaholic. An amusingly energetic expression with golden hair that subtlety outlined the curves in her face.

Taking a break for a little couldn't be that bad, right? Opening his desk drawer, he pushed around loose objects until his located his car keys. Suddenly his hand brushed past something unfamiliar. Picking it out, he flipped it around.

A card.

A member card to be exact.

For what?

Why, his gym of course! Not that he'd gone there for a good few weeks...

A visit to the gym? Well... it couldn't hurt. Do something to work up an appetite. Keep in good health. Why not?

* * *

Kira's eyes bulged at what his ears were hearing. 

"Sir! You can't be serious! I JUST-"

"I'm sorry Kira but I'm dead serious. I wish there was someone else, but there's just no one as qualified as you. I don't have a choice here."

"But Sir!"

"Please don't be too angry. I understand why you're upset, but it won't be as long this time."

"It doesn't matter! Last time it was three months! THREE! You can't expect me to do this on such short notice." He protested fiercely.

"Kira! Believe me if I had other options I would gladly take them. But not only am I at the end of my line, the people above me in this crazy food chain of power insist upon this! I can't help it!" His professor exclaimed.

Kira's face froze in shock at this professor's sudden outburst then quieted down and frowned. "I don't have a choice in this... do I?" He looked up to see a head solemnly shaking. "I... I understand Sir. I'll see to it as soon as possible. Just... give me some time please? I can't do it so soon. I'll need to organize some materials... sort things out." He muttered bitterly, gripping the edge of the table in an effort to break it off.

"Of course, of course. I'm sorry though, really I am. Whenever you're ready, just as soon as possible please."

Kira nodded, then exited the office without a word. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Cagalli hadn't fully settled in yet, and he'd been pushing that off too much already.

And also...

Lacus.

What on earth was he going to do tell Lacus?...

* * *

Cagalli grabbed the plastic card that the secretary slid across the counter and grinned. "So I can go in right now?" 

"Mm hmm."

"Great! Do you um, have a list of activities or classes that are going on?..." she asked awkwardly, outlining the shape of a page with her index finger. The secretary nodded and pointed to a stack of blue papers sitting to the side. "Thanks." Cagalli smiled, grabbing one.

She began walking towards the entrance to the gym, eyes scanning the schedule for current classes that she could join immediately. Suddenly, she ran face first into something solid.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, rubbing her forehead. "I thought those doors were automatic."

"They are." A familiar voice chuckled softly. Cagalli looked up and her eyes widened. "But unfortunately, I'm not." He finished.

"Athrun! What are you doing here?" She cried aloud.

"Exercising? That's what one tends to do at a gym." He teased nodding at her in mock sarcasm. Cagalli glared at him.

"I didn't know you went to the gym...Much less this gym."

"I don't, really. Spur of the moment thing. Haven't been here in ages." He admitted, his left hand reaching back and ruffling his hair lightly.

"Coincidences of all coincidences..." Cagalli murmured, unsure about what to feel. Athrun grinned in reply.

"Thinking of taking a class?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure which one." She sighed, drawing her attention back to the schedule.

"Let's take a look." Athrun said moving behind her and leaning over her shoulder to read. Cagalli felt her cheeks burn as the warmth radiating from him enveloped her. In shock, she forgot the breathe, yet continued staring blackly at the schedule, determined not to move, and DEFINATELY not to look up a him...

"Rock climbing." Athrun said with finality, stepping back. Cagalli took a deep breath, slowly giving her body time to recover. Athrun remained completely oblivious to her reaction to his sudden movement. "What do you think?"

"Sounds fun. It's in 10 minutes."

"Then let's get going."

* * *

"All right guys, I see a lot of you guys are just beginners so I'm going to start with the basics. This class meets once a week, every week, this time. I'd appreciate it if you all regularly, so I could have a class to move along with, but if you ever can't come or want to come in extra, feel free to do so." 

Cagalli stood with her arms folded over her chest, listening to the instructor give her speech. Athrun took a quick glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Funny... it was strange how they'd known each other for such a long... yet short time.

"Okay guys! First step! Today's kind of lame because I don't want people up on the wall until we learn the safety procedures. Let's get started with trust falls. Find a partner."

Athrun and Cagalli glanced at each other, shrugged, then turned towards each other.

"Okay good. The purpose of this activity is to fall back, and trust that your partner will catch you. When climbing, it's vital that you have trust in the person that's holding your rope. So go ahead and start. Tell your partner to stand back as far as you want or trust them too. Then just before you lean back, check if their ready. Remember to announce your fall."

Cagalli blinked and was about to step forward in position to catch Athrun when he swiftly moved behind her.

"Whoa whoa whoa. I'M falling?"

Athrun raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Why not?"

"What if I DON'T trust you?"

"That's the whole point. We have to build trust." He grinned, motioning for her to fall with his hands.

"I... I want you to stand really close then for the first fall. I don't trust you catching me if you're too far away." She insisted, slightly embarrassed at her tone.

Athtun inwardly frowned. She didn't trust him enough? What was that supposed to mean?... "All right." Athrun shrugged, burying his thoughts or at least trying to. He moved forward until he was practically pressed against her back. Cagalli blushed again.

"I said stand close, not on! I still need room to fall!"

He laughed, shaking his head slightly. "Fair enough." he noted, taking a step back.

"Ready?" Cagalli asked warily.

"Ready."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You're positive?"

"For the love of god, Cagalli. Yes! I'll catch you!"

"All right. Falling..." She closed her eyes tightly and fell backwards, bracing for impact.

"_Don't bend your knees… don't bend your knees…"_ She chanted to herself. Suddenly she felt herself get gently slowed down, then propped back up.

"Gotcha See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" A calm voice assured. "You can open your eyes now."

Cagalli opened her left eyes, and found a pair of intense dark evergreen eyes staring intently at her. Coughing a little, she opened the other one and straightened out her shirt.

"R-Right. Okay." She nodded.

"So do you trust me now?" He asked.

"Um, sure..." She mumbled.

"Ready to try a longer fall?"

"A WHAT!"

* * *

And so the class continued. Eventually Athrun got sick of taking 15 minutes to convince her to fall another inch more, and they switched. Cagalli did well at first, catching Athrun, although having to catch him in her arms made her blush furiously at first. 

"All right Cagalli, why don't we switch again?" Athrun suggested, trying to hold his amusement over how her face currently resembled a fire hydrant.

"Okay..." She nodded.

"Same as before. I'll catch you before you fall too much." He assured. Grinning to himself, as soon as she was in position, he took a large step back, so that he'd end up catching her a few inches above the ground. Oh, what fun.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Falling..." She sighed, closing her eyes.

* * *

"_Wait a minute..._

_Why am I falling this much?_

_I'm not supposed to fall this much! _

_He's not going to catch me! He's not going to catch me!_

_THAT JERK!_

_I'm going to fall… Fall!_

_I don't want to fall! _

_H-HELP!"_

* * *

Athrun smiled, sure that she'd HAVE to trust him after this. Suddenly though, she took a step back, clearly frightened over how much she had gone back, without slowing down. She stumbled and her knees bent, stepping backwards, as her arm shot back to balance. Rushing forward to catch her, his eyes widened then closed as hoped he blindly hoped he would make it on time.

* * *

"_The floor..." _

"Cagalli?"

"_It's warm..."_

"Cagalli?"

"_And soft..." _

"Cagalli!"

He eyes shot open. Gradually her pupils readjusted to the light, still feeling slightly dizzy. She found herself staring at a slightly shaken and very concerned Athrun. So then... she must be lying on his lap...

"Cagalli! Are you okay?"

The young woman sprung to her feet and punched him promptly in the shoulder. "OF COURSE NOT YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT TO FALL THAT FAR!"

"Wha... Well if you hadn't stepped back and had just TRUSTED me-"

"Oh don't you DARE pin this on me! Don't blame YOUR lies on ME!"

"I had every intent to catch you! Really!" He insisted.

"I don't care! You weren't there to catch me where you said you would be! Jerk!"

Suddenly Athrun's eyes widened and he looked down at the ground. Cagalli felt startled at her own audacious outburst, as her body cooled down from all the excitement. "Sorry." He spoke softly.

"It's okay..."

They stood there for a while, awkwardly. Much of the class had stopped to stare at them by now.

"Want to... get some lunch?" Athrun suggested weakly.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

* * *

"So what DO you do?" She asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich. After taking a shower, they had headed to a nearby deli for a quick lunch. 

"Pardon?"

"Your job."

"Oh." Athrun swallowed what he was chewing, and took a gulp of water. "I'm the Primary Administrative Assistant to the Head Director of Corden Real Estate."

Cagalli blinked. "In English?"

"I take care of all the stuff that the head of the company is too lazy to do." Athrun shrugged.

"Shouldn't that be a secretary's job?"

"No no. This is more like writing preliminary contracts, reviewing quarterly profit statistics, and stuff."

"Sounds busy." Cagalli muttered.

"Mm, but it's a good job. Good position." He finished, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a palm pilot. Cagalli watched him silently.

"Sorry Cagalli. Gotta go. Something important must of come up. personally asked I go to his office." Athrun sighed, starting to pull on his jacket. "Want to come?"

"Am-am I allowed to?" Cagalli asked uncertainly.

"Of course. As long as I say you're my guest." Athrun assured, offering his hand. Cagalli stared at her half eaten sandwich on her plate, grabbed it in her right hand and shrugged.

"Sure, I'll tag along."

* * *

The entire time, while navigating this building, Cagalli had felt awkward. First security personal tried to stop her from entering, then after she had gotten thorugh, continued to stare at her suspiciously. On top of that, the eyes of numerous secretaries who would gaze at Athrun dreamily, would turn sharply to her and glare daggers as she walked by. 

"Ah, Athrun. Good to see that you're here. I have something urgent to talk to you about." A man said, who Cagalli could only assume was Athrun's boss. She took a step back, and was about to leave the room and wait outside.

"Sorry if I'm late sir. Anything I can do for you?" Athrun asked politely. He glanced at Cagalli, who seemed to be backing away.

"Who's this young lady?" Mr. Corden asked, smiling a bit. He seemed stern and professional, yet also good-natured. An elderly man of an age that Cagalli dared not guess.

"She's a friend. Mind if she stays?" Athrun explained curtly.

"Personally no. But because this matter personally concerns you, it's really more your decision."

Athrun's eyebrows crossed worriedly, in confusion. Cagalli shifted uncomfortably.

"I can go wait outside..." She explained, turning towards the door. Suddenly, Athrun grabbed her wrist.

"It's fine." Athrun insisted, looking at her briefly before turning back to Mr. Corden. "Please continue sir."

* * *

Athrun had never been so scared in his entire life. Was he going to get fired? Was that it? If so... did he want Cagalli here? If something bad had happened, he'd like have to have someone with him... But for some reason tee idea of her watching him fail twisted his gut in to an uncomfortable knot. 

Mr. Corden regarded Athrun, then broke into a smile. "You needn't be so concerned. I promise it's nothing terrible."

He took a deep breath and leaned backwards into his chair, gesturing for Athrun and Cagalli to take a seat in front of him.

"Athrun, how long have you been working for me?"

"I think just over two years sir..." Athrun replied.

"Yet in such a short amount of time, you've amazed me time and time again with the quality of your work and your dedication to your job."

"Thank you, Sir."

"This week Athrun... This week as you probably are aware of, I will be turning 65."

"I know, Sir." Athrun nodded again

"I think that... 65 is too old to be running a company of this size." Pausing slightly, choosing his words very carefully.

Athrun gaped in shock. Cagalli shifted uncomfortably, yet curious. Could this possibly mean?...

"Sir! You want to retire?"

A nod.

"But sir! This is your company! It's been yours for over 30 years!" The young man protested.

"I know Athrun. I know. It's very important to me. And so even if I'm not running it, I want it in good hands. I've made enough money to live a comfortable life with my wife, for the rest of my days. But this company means a lot to me. Even if it's not mine, I want to see it succeed."

"Of-of course sir. What buyers do you have in mind?"

"As of now? None." The old man smiled.

"Sir!" Athrun stood up promptly. "If you plan to retire by the end of the week, yet have no buyers in mind... it's just not possible!"

"Athrun..." Mr. Corden chuckled. "I'm not going to sell the company. I told you I have enough money. All I want to do is see it succeed in my absence."

Athrun nodded and sat down warily. "Sir... I don't think I understand. Are you implying..."

"Athrun. I don't' want to sell this company. It's my life's work! And so I'd rather… I want to… To leave her in your hands, because I'm confident in your abilities, and know that you'll treat her well..." spoke slowly, measuring his words, almost as if he was assuring himself at the same time, that he was making the right decision. He leaned forward.

"The company is yours."

* * *

Cagalli had never felt more awkward in her entire life. A large part of her wanted to get up and hug Athrun in congratulations. Another part was sad that Mr. Corden was giving up his company. And the final part just felt... awkward. 

Athrun, meanwhile, hadn't blinked in blinked…. Or maybe even breathed for five minutes. Mr. Corden watched him carefully.

"Athrun?"

"Yes, Sir?" He replied, almost robotically.

"Will you take her? I know it seems strange, since you haven't worked here for long, but at this point there's no one I'd feel more comfortable with. So, by the end of this week, I will be turning full ownership over to you."

"You... you must be kidding." Athrun muttered, still completely stunned.

"Oh no, I'm completely serious. The contracts have been drawn up: I just need you to sign them. This weekend, at my birthday celebration, I will make the announcement."

Athrun stared at the contracts on the desk. Reaching over, he picked them up and stared. They were real. He was serious... All these documents needed was his signature, and he would own the company. The entire company...

"Athrun? Please sign. As unrealistic as this seems, again, I have no one else that I trust turning this company over to. If you ever feel like you regret this you can always give her back. But for now, I want a long vacation. Think of this as your birthday present to me." He smiled. Cagalli studied his face. It was evident that the man was tired, and had been thinking about it for a long time. He sincerely meant it, and looked at Athrun the way a father might regard a son.

Athrun shakily drew a fountain pen from the desk, then lay the contracts flat on the desk. Standing up, he shakily put the pen to the paper and began to write.

Athrun...

He stopped. Did he really want to do this? This didn't seem right... He felt like he was cheating everyone else who had worked in this company for decades... He couldn't do this. He just-

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Cagalli beaming at him supportively.

"Unless you have any other birthday present in mind Athrun, you better finish that signature."

Mr. Corden laughed and grinned. "She's right Athrun. If you don't sign, you better have something else big planned."

Athrun looked at Mr. Corden, then at Cagalli and smiled.

"Thank you... Thank you so much sir. I just... don't know what else to say."

Putting the pen to the paper again, he finished it off. With one four letter word, it was final.

He owned... a company.

* * *

**So canAthrun handle the pressure? And what is the horrible news that Kira has to break to Lacus? Better keep reading, because this crazy head of mine has 101 more ideas on how to torture… erm… _develop_ said characters. (Hint: Lacus and Cagalli will run into their share of issues too.)**

**At first I was hesitant to do this, because it seems to involve Athrun's job so suddenly seems awkward. But, if you recall earlier chapters, where he did nothing but tote a laptop around, that was a slight intimation toward this chapter. I hope it's not too strange though, but in terms of reason, it's basically going to help develop a plot.**

**Also, not sure if you guys can tell yet, but at this point I think this will definitely be longer than my previous work. The ending for others was already set, whereas I have little to no vague idea where I'm going with this.**

**Thanks to my readers again. I know I'm getting really bad at these updates, but I'm hoping that it won't discourage anyone from reading!**

**ichigo kagura, Mika-chan, thousandbirds, astrocosmos, Athrun-n-Cagalli, kura52, xcrossmyheartx , KiraFreedom, Eternally Asuka, purple1, gseedlover, Cagalli-01, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, clumsykelli , asucagainluv, blackfirefox, Torri-Chiobie, taijiya-sango88, koali alolao, Smoke-Angel, IYGU, Orange Noel, animeluver461, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, ANONYMOUS-gsd, animemistress419, Super Greek, Ryan Crescens, Living Arrow, laboo, MiyuCagalli, Kandida, XxbuffyxX, The Angels' Princess, stuntsheep, cloudy mind, Maryam Khanoom.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter in ASAP, since I'm pretty sure about what's going to happen. **


	8. Awkward Invitations

**Well it's been roughly one week and in that period of time, I finally had some time to sit down and figure out exactly where I'm going with this and how to time it. Also, my chapters are getting increasingly longer. **

**But, one chapter at a time! So let's get started!**

* * *

Cagalli sat impatiently at her table, tugging at the hem of her dress. Athrun chuckled a bit, watching her frustrated expression as she argued with the dark blue material.

"If you keep doing that, you might just rip the whole thing off." he teased. Cagalli looked up, glared, then gave a final tug at the dress before turning around and folding her arms over her chest impatiently. "Remind me what you didn't just wear a longer dress?"

"Because you can't do anything in them. They constrict movement of the legs." She replied stubbornly.

"And why don't you like shorter ones?"

"Because they're too short." She frowned, still standing her ground.

"Of course.. how silly of me." He laughed. Her narrowed eyes darted toward his direction, and she threateningly picked up a salad fork. Athrun pushed his chair back abruptly, and began coughing in an effort to stop his laughter. "My bad."

"It's fine. Besides I can't very well kill the guest of honor..." She said matter-of -factly, tossing the fork back onto the table.

"Well, that too. And the fact that I'd rather not die..."

"Whatever." Cagalli sighed, slumping onto the table and lazily taking a sip of water from her straw.

In reality, there was one other thing that was bothering her. As a waitress, she was used to being the person who served food, not got food served to her. Not that she was complaining. After al, she was studying law, so presumably she would have to get used to this. But just for now, as a student and waitress, it was awkward.

Of course there was also the teensy little fact that Athrun had asked her to go with him... She had been more than willing to go for moral support, but embarrassment, yes? Until he told her it would be as friends. And that Kira and Lacus would also be going as guests. And he'd said it so casually.

So then tonight meant nothing, yes? She was his guest. A friend who he wanted to come to the party. This made the atmosphere relax... just a tad. No pressure, no pressure.

Why wasn't there any pressure? Sometimes he seemed friendly, other times it was as if those two weeks they had known each other as just waitress and customer never happened. Talk about your mixed signals: this was mixed signals in different languages altogether.

But then again, it didn't matter. He was a friend. A good friend.

So, that twist in her chest every time he looked somewhere else, eyes wandering off in the direction of something she couldn't reach...

That meant...

Nothing?

* * *

Bloody... NOTHING.

Athrun felt like approaching the closest wall and hitting himself in the head until he was incapable of conscious thought. The entire night thus far, fun as it was, she seemed in her own little world. Protected by a moat, impenetrable barrier and army. Her defenses were up, higher than he had ever seen before.

But why?. Why was she saying nothing? Her words felt empty, lacking enthusiasm. It was almost like she didn't like being here, and had come out of necessity.

Could it have been the way he asked her? He had intended to ask her in a way that would suggest they would be going together...

But then that deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck look in her eyes had scared the bejeebus out of him, and he covered it up with a "just as friends" alibi. Which eased the expression in her face.

Then he said Kira and Lacus would be coming too, and she seemed to relax more... but in a painful kind of way if that made any sense. But what else was he supposed to do? She looked like she was about to have a heart attack for crying out loud!

But had he killed it? Had he downplayed the asking of her to come so much that she was just plain old miserable now?

Not that there was a way to fix this. What was he supposed to say? _"Cheer up Cagalli, even if I did ask you, and your brother, and your brother's girlfriend to come, I'd like to think that we still came together. As friends."_

Oh Lord. Even his own head was attaching stupid words that killed any intimation towards his emotions. He wasn't... scared was he? Well if Kira found out about the cafe, then breaking into his apartment etc. etc. he'd probably be shot, tied up, then thrown off a cliff...

Athrun winced. Then again it would be unfair of him to declare emotions so quickly... did he like her? In felt like things had changed so much after she 'became' Kira's sister. Sometimes he just wanted to hug her... really hard, and then never let go. Other times, his head would tell him it wasn't right, for some confounded reason, and she was just his best friend's little sister again.

Glanced at her, he almost burst out laughing at how cute she looked, head planted in her arms, which were folding across the table. Pouting slightly out of boredom, or defiance, with he eyes narrowed dully, as if she was going to fall asleep any minute. She looked like a 10 year old kid, in the last 5 minutes of school on a Friday.

* * *

Cagalli's eyes wandered to her left... empty seat. beside that, another empty seat. Kira and Lacus... she sighed. She glanced tot e right. Athrun... who was fidgeting restlessly as much as physically possible in the rather uncomfortable chairs.

"Hey, aren't you hot?" Cagalli wondered aloud.

"Come again?" Athrun blinked. Cagalli stuttered, realizing she had spoken aloud.

"You're wearing a suit. I'm wearing this... thing" she frowned, surveying her clothes with distaste, "But you've got a shirt, jacket the whole works. Are you okay?"

Athrun laughed good naturedly, and loosened his tie a bit, "I'm putting up with it." He replied, tugging at his shirt collar. He moved his hand down to straighten his tie again.

"Here, I'll do that." Cagalli said, straightening up and reaching over. Athrun jumped back slightly out of surprise, then felt heat rise up his neck as her hand got closer.

"Wow you really are hot. You're practically bright red." Cagalli noted, clueless as to any other reason why the poor boy's usually pale face resembled a stoplight. "There, all done." She smiled, patting the tie and leaning back.

Suddenly Mr. Corden stood up and approached the stage. Athrun tensed, unsure of what to do. He scanned the room quickly, seeing that Kira and Lacus had noticed as well and were headed back to the table as quickly as possible. Suddenly he felt something on his hand.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine." Cagalli assured, giving his hand a light squeeze. Letting go, she picked up her drink and signaled for a waiter to come over. Athrun blinked, then stared down at his hand. A smile began to spread across his face, as he looked back to the stage.

* * *

Kira was beginning to regret coming back to the table. He was planning to tell her tonight, about what had happened. But just as he was going to suggest they move somewhere more secluded, Athrun's boss stood up to announce his retirement and they had to rush back.

Half of him was frustrated that this was so difficult.

The other half was relieved that he could put it off a little longer.

Turning to look at Lacus, he couldn't help but smile when he saw how peaceful she looked. he didn't want to tell her. He didn't want it to be true. And if he told her, it would be like he had given in.

Clenching his fist slightly, his mind whirred with a thousand possible reactions from her, each as unlikely as the next. But in that moment, they all seemed perfectly feasible. Redirecting his attention, he tried to tear his mind from personal matter. Tonight was Athrun's night. He'd deal with his own problems later.

* * *

Athrun frowned slightly, at the literal mob of people that had just swarmed him. Shortly following Mr. Corden's speech, it took the media, investors in the company, and anyone else who gave a hoot, about half an hour to even figure out who the hell he was.

Then they came FLOCKING.

Like geese. They sounded like them so. A gaggle of giddy geese.

"No, I don't have specific plans. No, I don't want to sell the company, Yes I am ready to take on this responsibility. What the-? No, I don't' want to marry your daughter. And I definitely don't want to marry your son!" He stared incredulously at a well dressed elderly woman, who seemed eager to advance her position by any means possible.

"Please everyone, stop swarming him." Mr. Corden's voice was heard, booming from the stage. Gradually the crowd began to dissipate, and Athrun quickly ran outside to get fresh air.

* * *

Cagalli watched Athrun run off, curious as to why she didn't run off with him. Hell she was SITTING beside the guy. Most people assumed they were together and started making passes at her too.

"You aren't... dating him are you?" A voice asked, as if on cue. Cagalli turned and glared daggers in the general direction of where the sound had come from.

"No! So for the love of God I can't get you an advantage!"

A purple haired man, who Cagalli could only assume was the person who had spoke, shrugged. "Just clarifying. What is your name, may I ask?"

"Cagalli. But that doesn't matter because I'll probably never see you ever again anyways."

the man smirked. "Just curious. My name's Jona by the way. I do hope to see you again though. I might be doing some business with this company, so you never know."

"Mm hmm..." Cagalli mumbled miserably.

"You still sound bored though. Anything I can help with?"

Cagalli looked around. "Get me another drink. I think it's going to be a long night."

Jona laughed. "Will do." He nodded, signaling for a waiter.

* * *

Athrun leaned against the balcony edge, looking out at the sky. His mother had been so happy about his hair. It was the same color as the night. But it had been a long time since he'd seen her... it'd been a long time since he saw anyone.

He had his hands full already, just being assistant. How on earth was he supposed to handle this as a director?... Was he REALLY ready to take on this responsibility?

He contemplated never going back in there. Ever. The cool, damn air felt good, and it was so stuffy inside. Leaning over a bit, he peeked inside. Kira and Lacus had already left the table again... Kira was probably going to tell Lacus.

As far as Athrun knew, he was the first person Kira had told. Both because they were best friends, and because he needed advice. But Lacus wasn't the type of person to overreact.

Then again... this was pretty bad...

Taking another quick peek in, he caught sight of someone approaching Cagalli... Jona Saran if he wasn't mistaken. He owned some property that they were interested in...

Scooting over a bit to get a better view, a smile lightly brushed onto his face as Cagalli seemed to reject any attempt Jona made to instigate a conversation. Suddenly, he frowned a bit, as Jona called over a waiter and handed Cagalli a drink. Cagalli was just about to stand up it seemed, before Athrun took a step in, trying to look as casual as possible.

* * *

Kira led Lacus into the garden, doing his best to keep a straight face. She was the last person he had to tell now. Athrun had been the first, and if Cagalli hadn't been the second she would have wrangled him. Plus, he need advice from both of them, to figure out how to approach the matter.

Lacus sat down on a wooden bench, motion him to come and sit too. Kira obliged happy wrapping and arm around her and leaning in.

"Lacus?..." He began, more shakily than he had intended. Lacus picked up the wavering tone and looked up at him.

"Something wrong?"

"No... ah, well.. maybe." He admitted.

"That's a yes." Lacus sighed, moving back. "Spill."

It was about time. Kira had been keeping something from her the entire week. It was strange: Usually she was the first person that he would come to when he had any problems at all, but this time it felt like he was deliberately avoiding her...

"Lacus... how long was I gone last time?" He started nervously.

"About three months..." She answered warily.

"And back then, what did you say when I told you I had to be away for so long?"

"I told you that it would be hard, but I'd wait for you." She replied. Kira smiled at the memory.

"What if I told you... I had to leave again?"

* * *

Cagalli was about to stand up, because as uninterested in Jona she was he was someone to talk to. And he had gotten her a drink. So giving him five minutes of her time would be relatively reasonable.

Turning her head for a second, she caught sight of Athrun, who had just returned. When suddenly a few people blocked him, to ask questions, she assumed.

"So then, what brings you here?" She sighed, turning her attention back towards Jona. Jona traced her former line of sight, eyes landing on a blue haired, recently made owner of a company. He smiled inwardly…

"Like I said, I won a business with my father. We've been negotiating some property transfers with this company, so it's only natural we would come. And you didn't really say what brings you here, especially if you're not accompanying Mr. Zala."

Cagalli shrugged. "I'm 'accompanying' him. Just not WITH him. I'm here with him, and two other people."

"Interesting..." Jona smiled to himself, taking another glance in the direction of Athrun, who seemed desperate work his way through he crowd and get back to the table. _"He's so young..." _He smiled at a passing thought that came to his head.

"Care to dance?"

* * *

Cagalli paused, her champagne glass held in mid-air. "P-Pardon?"

"Want to dance?" the purple haired man repeated, taking another glance at Athrun, who was still a good distance away.

"I... can't really dance."

"I can teach you." She shrugged. "It's easy." And with that, he pulled her away.

* * *

Lacus stared at Kira numbly.

"Again?..."

Kira nodded solemnly. "Yeah... they need someone to go as a representative to the European conference... It wasn't supposed to be me, but now it is."

Lacus looked down. He was deliberately holding back details so that she could have time to digest the basics first. "I see... and there's no other way?"

Kira shook his head.

"Okay, I'll ask you one more question. Do you want to go?"

Kira blinked and looked up. "Do I... want to go?"

Lacus nodded. "Do you? Forget about me, or any other influence, and effects. Just take it at face value. DO you want to go?"

Kira paused. Forgetting about all effects was difficult, but if it was just going to be a trip there...

And he didn't have to leave her behind...

"Yes, yes I think so."

Lacus broke into a smiled and hugged him. "That's all I need to know. Do it if you want to Kira. I'm not going to hold you back. Ever."

Kira froze, completely stunned. That was it?... That was it? Smiling, he looked down at her and hugged her back.

"It'll be for maybe a month... or so. We'll talk everyday, and I promise to be back in time for Christmas."

Lacus nodded, words still muffled into his chest. "It's fine. Have fun." She looked up at him, and he smiled lovingly back at her.

"I'll try."

* * *

Athrun's mind had never panicked this much in his entire life. one minute Cagalli and Saran were chatting at the table, the next he had no idea where they were. Excusing himself as politely, and as fast as possible, then rushing over to the table, he frowned. They were nowhere in sight.

But she had come with him!

_As friends... _

Oh lord.

Taking off, he meandered and threaded through the crowd as quickly as possible, simply looking for a blonde head.

* * *

So, put your right hand on my shoulder... Yup, just like that. Okay now I take your left hand in mine. Now whatever way my right hand guides you, move with it. And follow my steps. I'll go slowly at first, so you can get the hang of it."

Cagalli nodded, staring at her feet and trying to figure out what the hell she was doing.

"Lift your head." Jona noted.

Cagalli glared. "Do you want to have your feet amputated or what?" Jona burst out laughing, when suddenly Cagalli felt something tap her shoulder lightly.

"Mr. Zala! How can I help you?" Jona greeted, plastering a smile on his face. "Might I also add my congratulations?"

"Much appreciated." Athrun nodded stiffly, his hand already on Cagalli's wrist, his eyes glaring at her other hand, which was still held by Jona. "Mind if I cut in?"

Jona blinked, looked at Cagalli who seemed to be fascinated in the marble floor, lips pressed tightly and eyebrows furrowed with apprehension, and Athrun who was trying to subdue a vicious glare. "Not at all, but I'm afraid this young lady can't dance."

"Then I'll teach her." Athrun brushed off the comment. Jona nodded, and turned to walk away before pausing and turning around again.

"Ah, Zala. One more thing... About that property sale. My father would like that to be dealt with as soon as possible. Would you have any spare time this weekend to sign some contracts, so we can turn that land over to you?"

Athrun stared for a bit. "I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to do so. I have yet to personally visit the land, which I would like to do, before I settle on anything. After all, this may very well turn out to be the first deal under the company's new leadership. I would hate for anything to go wrong." He paused for a moment. "And also, if possible I'd like to personally negotiate with your father himself."

Jona nodded, either not catching the slight insult or simply choosing to ignore it. "Of course. Feel free to come and take a look anytime. And feel free to bring Ms. Athha as well." He added with enthusiasm, stealing a glance at the shocked blonde.

Athrun cringed at the thought, but held his tongue and nodded. "We can work out the details later."

* * *

Cagalli watched the two men talk... It was like a verbal tennis match. But Jona's sudden reference towards her and thrown her off, and Athrun too apparently.

Then she was promptly pulled away by Athrun, who was walking unusually fast.

"A-Athrun? I thought we were going to dance..." She stammered uncertainly.

"Hm?" He stopped and turned around, his face back to normal. "Oh, do you actually want to?"

"Um, well I don't know..." Cagalli shrugged, feigning indifference. Athrun smiled affectionately and pulled her towards him, hand positioned on the small of her back.

"All right. First step, forget everything. I am the only person that matters right now. Got it?"

Cagalli blinked and nodded, staring at the ground as he began to pull her along with the music.

"Careful, careful... don't worry I've got you." He offered encouragingly. The rest of the night continued similarly, gliding along the floor in a world of their own. Whenever Cagalli was doing well, Athrun would compliment her. Whenever she messed up, they'd laugh about it together and continue. By the time it was all over, the time had passed so quickly and Kira and Lacus had rejoined them.

* * *

They sat in the back of the limo on the ride home, idly chatting. However, Athrun seemed distant in some ways. Staring out the window, his thoughts seemed to be caught in something they couldn't figure out.

"Hey, Kira, when do you leave?" he suddenly interrupted. Kira paused momentarily.

"I'm not sure. I think next week. Why?"

"Want to come visit a summer resort with me?"

Again, all three people present other than Athrun raised an eyebrow.

"Um Athrun... as much as I like you man..." Kira started,

"I don't think Kira's really..." Cagalli continued,

"That type of..." Lacus added.

"No, no, don't get me wrong! I'm not gay! Lacus would be coming as well and Cagalli if she wants. It's the Saran resort. I've decided it would be best to resolve the issue, so I'll go up there this weekend. It can also be a send-off present."

Kira and Lacus nodded approvingly, and Cagalli smiled. They turned to each other, broke into wide grins, then faced Athrun again, and spoke in unison:

"Sounds like fun. Count me in!"

* * *

**So then, the stage is set but how will this trip unfold? Can Athrun get off on a good start and seal off the contract? And what about Cagalli tagging along? Questions answered in the next chapter, so be sure to check out, "Bubbling Doubts". Because,_ "sometimes we need to think things through…"_**

**In reality, I think next chapter may end up being really long, because of the sheer amount of STUFF I have planned for it. I'd hate to break it into two parts, but if it gets that big I might. **

**As for this chapter, I'm really excited about it. I was facing a bit of writer's block on top of my schedule for the past few weeks, so I'm truly sorry if anything seemed dull. At first, this was pretty short too, so I added a bunch of stuff.**

**As for Kira and Lacus, sorry to anyone that was expecting a bigger reaction, but come on now: It's Kira and Lacus. These guys never have problems… like EVER. Probably THE most stable relationship ever. **

**Finally, the part that some of you may be trying to kill me over: Jona (who is often referred to as 'Yunna Seiran' due to fansubs… his official spelling of his name is "Jona Saran", as far as I know. Said exactly like 'Yunna' though). Yes, he is in this fic. I needed a someone with a profession role for this, and Jona seemed to fit. However, unlike the later episodes GSD I will not portray him as a bumbling idiot, but rather as the person he was at the start, who was rather sneaky and persuasive. (Cough), and that's all I'm going to say for now. D**

**Now for major props to my awesome reviewers! There were some mixed reactions to Athrun owning a company. I saw anywhere from how it seemed fitting, to how surprising it was. But there was a very positive reaction to it, and certainly something I was uber-happy about. So thanks a lot guys:**

**rain angst, Freyris, Eternally Asuka, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl**

**, gundamseedluver, b4k4 ch4n, Living Arrow, Mika-chan , Craze Izumi, The Angels' Princess, AznOrchadork, Torri-Chiobie, give me food, IYGU, XCrossMyHeartX, moi, XxbuffyxX, stuntsheep, KiraFreedom, kura52, clumsykelli, Smoke-Angel, ichigo kagura, animemistress419, FreedomElf, koali alolao, animeluver461, cloudy mind, gseedlover, Orange Noel, new moongirl, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, asga, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, Cagalli-01, Maryam Khanoom**

**Much thanks goes out to these guys, and also just people that are checking this out, but don't want to review. **

**Until next week!**


	9. Your Sun, My Rain

**Well everyone, I have to confess, that I did end up separating this into two chapters. Technically by the time I finished writing it, I could have easily carved it into three chapters, but decided just to make it two. As a result, this is the longest chapter I have ever written for anything, so I hope you guys enjoy it. **

* * *

Athrun sat in his seat, typing away on his laptop, finishing up some figures. He paused for a bit, saved his work, then dropped his head back, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kira and Lacus to his right, holding hands while watching the in-flight movie. To his left, Cagalli was dozing peacefully in her seat.

Apparently the girl was not a morning person. When they tried to wake her up to go to the airport, Lacus had to literally drag her out of bed, then it took both Kira and Athrun to chuck her into the bathroom, in the process acquiring several bruises, and getting the all too familiar brush and lotion bottle thrown at him.

Hard to imagine the same temperamental woman was now sleeping peacefully beside him. He glanced at his watch... 30 minutes before landing. Returning his thoughts back to his work, he began typing again.

* * *

Kira grabbed Lacus' luggage, and was about to carry it when Athrun motioned for him to put it down. A man in a black suit approached them, and he and Athrun exchanged words. Suddenly another man walked over, grabbed their bags, and motioned towards a car.

The three of them still looked somewhat stunned. Athrun lifted his head in their direction and mumbled a few words softly, "Business means first class all the way." They blinked then nodded a bit.

The drive to the resort was short, and within 15 minutes they found themselves there. Stepping out of the limo, Cagalli burst out of the car and ran full speed towards the ocean, taking off her shoes at the same time. Lacus gasped at sight of the riveting blue sea at first, then quickly made her way towards where Cagalli was playfully splashing around, laughing along.

Kira was about to grab their luggage, when he remembered what Athrun had told him, and ran after Cagalli and Lacus instead. Finally, Athrun stepped out. He took a happy glance at his three friends, then turned towards the entrance of the resort, spotting a familiar figure.

"Mr. Zala, how wonderful to see you! My father can't be here right now, but I assure you that you will be dealing solely with him for the rest of the weekend." Jona spoke with eloquently, barely making his mild insult noticeable. Athrun suppressed the urge to retort, and stepped forward to shake hands instead.

"Pleasure. Thank you for you time." He nodded earnestly. "Will I be seeing the property today?"

"Probably tomorrow. Father's a bit busy today." Jona shrugged. He glanced in the direction of the shoreline. "I see you've brought some friends?"

"Yes, I hope you won't mind accommodating them. One of them is leaving the country soon, and I wanted to surprise them. If there is an issue, I'll gladly pay for the extra rooms." Athrun offered, not liking the way Jona's eyes seemed to focus on a certain blonde.

"Don't worry. There won't be a problem." Jona assured, not removing his gaze, then taking a deep breath and calling out. "Ms. Athha?"

* * *

Cagalli looked at the sound of her name. She had been writing her name in the sand, when someone can called her. Just a bit further down, Lacus was collecting shells, whiel Kira collected stones.

"Jona?..." She squinted to make out the figure that was waving at her. Standing up and brushing off her shorts, she called for Lacus and Kira to come back, and ran towards Athrun. "You called?"

Athrun's eyes looked a bit dark, and he averted his gaze. "No, he did." He muttered, emphasizing the 'he' with a sharp jerk with his head in Jona's direction.

"Ms. Athha, how are you? See, I did need to know your name." He grinned.

"I guess so, but just call me Cagalli." She replied cheerfully. Athrun's gaze dropped, his hands beginning to fiddle with his laptop. Jona shot a glance in Athrun's direction to check his reaction.

"Very well, Cagalli it is. Shall I show you your rooms?"

* * *

Lacus had just finished unpacking her stuff in her room when she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door to find a casually dressed Kira, slightly waving.

"Want to go do something?"

"Sure." Lacus responded cheerfully, grabbing her camera which sat on the side table. "where's Cagalli?"

"Already outside. She loves the ocean, can't keep away from it." He answered, helping her put on a light jacket.

"And Athrun?"

"Umm... I think in his room. Looking over stuff. Then later he's going to look over the land." Kira replied. Lacus sighed.

"So I guess he's back to being the hard working hermit that we knew in college?"

"That locked himself in his room to study? Yep." Kira nodded. Lacus glared playfully at him.

"Don't joke about this."

"Who's joking? I'm totally serious." Kira laughed. Lacus whipped out her camera and threatened to take a picture of him, causing him to raise his hands in defense. Anyone who had ever tried taking a picture with Kira knew how much he hated pictures on himself. He bolted off, trying to run out of the camera's view, hands shielding his face like a movie star trying to flee from the press. Lacus laughed and ran after him, camera still raised.

Because they were going to enjoy these weekend to their heart's content.

* * *

Cagalli stood in the shower, letting the warn drops of liquid rinse away the sand that clung to her now tanned skin. Sighing a bit, she cupped her hand together, watching each drop gradually fill the make-shift bowl. After the water was up to her index finger, she splashed it on her face. Almost an entire day had gone by, and it really was gorgeous here. She had an incredible time hanging out with Kira and Lacus. Now the two of them had gone out for dinner. They'd asked her if she wanted to join, but Cagalli excused herself to give them some privacy.

So now she was stuck with nothing to do. And it was only 8:00pm!

Still... they hadn't seen nor heard from Athrun all day. They had no idea where the guy was. And tomorrow they knew for a fact that he'd be doing business all day.

"This can't be healthy..." She muttered. Turning off the shower, she stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself. Smoothing out a wrinkle on her shirt, she grabbed the room key and left.

* * *

Athrun stopped sifting through papers, and looked up at the sound of someone knocking at the door, then stood up and went to answer the door, still holding some documents in his right hand. Looking through the hole, he paused for a moment. It was Cagalli. He looked down at what he was wearing... dress pants and no top...

Looking back at the door, he sighed, then shouted a quick "Hold on a minute!" as another knock on the door was heard, dashing across the room to grab a dark grey shirt and hurriedly button it on.

"Yeah?" He asked as casually as possible, swinging open the door. She had taken a few steps back, either about to walk away, or try to kick the door open, though Athrun would guess the latter.

"Why did you take so long?" Cagalli complained, strolling into his room as he held the door open a tad wider. Athrun shut the door and followed her, sitting down at the desk again.

"Just doing some things." He shrugged. She suddenly turned and stared at him intently... then burst out laughing.

"Your shirt isn't buttoned correctly." She smirked. Athrun looked down to see that he had indeed, missed the top button, causing everything to be off by one. Blushing a bit, he quickly undid the buttons and began to fix them... when he began to feel very self-conscious of himself. He looked up to see Cagalli with her head turned, as if giving him a form of mock privacy. He continued to fix his shirt and then cleared his throat.

"Done. Now to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?" He asked. Cagalli leaned back onto his bed and grabbed the TV remote, turning on the television and flipped through channels. She took a quick glance at him, then stood up, and hastily grabbed the papers that he was STILL holding, slamming them down onto the table.

"Geez man, don't you ever take a break? This is a first class resort, enjoy it! I bet you haven't even tried room service yet!" She teased, waving the brochure that listed hotel numbers. Athrun sighed.

"Cagalli, I'm not here just for kicks like you guys are. I'm here on business." He insisted.

"But then what was the point of us coming with you, if we're not even going to SEE you?" She frowned. "You drag us all this way, for what?"

"So you guys can have fun. You don't need me for that."

"Kira and Lacus have plenty of fun without either of us... I think they're out for dinner now. But still! With the two of them, I can't keep tagging along! I feel like the odd one out." She protested. Athrun was about to rebuttal, when suddenly Cagalli added something about being worried about him, in a slightly quieter voice. He had barely heard her, but upon realizing what she had said, strolled over beside her and also sat down onto the bed, picking up the brochure and flipping through it.

"All right then, tell me what I should do with this thing. According to the records that I've been sent, you seem to have no problem ABUSING the free room service." He smirked.

"Get whatever you want." She shrugged, perking up a bit. "That's the beauty of it being FREE, see? And in my defense, Kira and Lacus ordered those four sundaes, just so they could try all the flavors."

"And the other four?..." Athrun raised an eyebrow.

"I ordered those, because by the time I got there, they had finished the sundaes, and I never got to try any." She pouted slightly. Athrun chuckled and nodded.

"I should have guessed..."

"Hey Athrun?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tag along with you tomorrow? I heard Jona say he was just going to be showing you that property that your company was going to buy." Cagalli dropped the topic casually, staring at the ceiling instead of the Spanish soap opera playing on TV.

"That's true." Athrun nodded, eyes darting back and forth as he skimmed the text of the brochure. "But that land is mostly undeveloped. There's not really anything on it. Originally the Sarans bought it, because they were going to expand the resort. But local residents complained about their proposals, and so they couldn't follow through. So all in all it's a pretty easy sale." He looked up to see that Cagalli had wandered over to his desk, and started reading some statistics. "Hey, hey, hey. Those are legal documents. You aren't authorized to see those." He teased. She looked up with a start.

"Oh sorry, I was just curious..." She trailed off. Athrun walked over and handed her a folder.

"Don't worry about it. It's always good to get to know legal documents, especially when you're studying to be a lawyer." He encouraged. Suddenly Cagalli's eyes seemed to droop a bit, as if some unknown sadness had suddenly gripped her. Before he could look further into it, she interrupted him.

"Is this the figure, for the total amount of land?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." He nodded, breaking out of his thoughts. "See? It's 90 undeveloped. Tomorrow I'll just be checking out whether or not the land has potential for anything."

"But I thought that you guys just did real estate..." Cagalli noted.

"That's true but after I buy it, I'll break it up into smaller sections and sell those. If the land has no potential, it'll be hard for me to sell it later." He explained. "You'll see later on. When you're a lawyer you'll known cases like this down pat."

Again her face fell a bit... Athrun paused and stared at her face for a moment, before continuing.

"So, yeah do you want to tag along tomorrow? It'll make surveying the land more interesting." He offered in an attempt to cheer her up.

Cagalli looked up and grinned. "Sure." Maybe it was just his imagination, but the grin looked somewhat forced to Athrun. Again, he continued, trying not to push the issue.

"So, want to watch some movies?"

* * *

Kira and Lacus walked hand in hand on the boardwalk. The night was clear, but it wasn't too late yet. They had just finished eating at a local restaurant and were about to head by to the resort.

"This is fun. We should do it more often." Lacus suggested.

"Absolutely." Kira nodded firmly. "As long as Athrun pays again."

Both of the laughed, when suddenly Lacus stopped to grab another shell. Kira smiled.

"You really like shells, don't you?" He noted. Lacus nodded, and grabbed another one.

"Not all shells though. Just the nice ones. When I was little, I always used to come to the beach with my family. I saw this hermit crab, with this gorgeous shell on its back once, and tried to take it. But my dad told me that the shell was his home, and I couldn't do that. But the rest of the shells on the beach were fine, and I could take as many of those as I wanted. So for the rest of the day I obsessively collected shells." She laughed. "It was fun. And it's kind of just a hobby now."

Kira laughed at the anecdote. "When we were little, Cagalli and I came to the beach one day She was collecting shells too, and said that I couldn't because she already was. Well, being the five year old that I was, I believed her, and started collecting rocks instead. And it just kind of stuck with me." He shrugged.

Lacus burst out laughing. "I like your story more."

"Because it makes me look like an idiot?" Kira pretended to be hurt in a mock tone. Lacus hugged him.

"No. Because it's such a... YOU thing to do."

* * *

Luckily the next day when Cagalli woke up, she was quite startled to find herself in her own room. Last thing she remembered she'd been watching old movies with Athrun in his room.

"Guess I must have fallen asleep..." She mumbled, rolling over to look at the clock.

"_So then… how did I get back here? Unless Athrun carried me back…"_

Suddenly the phone rang. Slamming her hand onto the receiver she picked it up and lazily brought it to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Hey, it's me. Athrun. You ready?"

"For?..." She raised an eyebrow, completely clueless as to what on bloody earth he was talking about.

"I thought you said you wanted to tour the land with me?" He asked in a tentative tone. Maybe he had heard wrong?...

"Oh yeah. Umm, gimme 10 minutes." She answered, already scrambling out of her sheets. Half an hour later, Cagalli found herself slouched against the window of a limo... finding it quite strange how Jona kept addressing her. Athrun on the other hand, was wedged in between them acting as a physical and verbal barrier. Every time Jona tried to direct a comment towards Cagalli, Athrun would make up a random question to deter the purple-haired flirt.

Not that he had a thing for Cagalli of course! But she was his sister's best friend! Surely that was the only reason why he was so protective of her.

Jona was just about to tell the driver to start heading back to the resort however, when suddenly Cagalli spoke up.

"Hey, what about that side? Why can't we see that?"

Jona was taken aback, at her first words of the day. "Because that land isn't developed. It's pretty much a really big forest." He replied smoothly. Then to the immense surprise of both men present, Cagalli suddenly opened the car door, grabbed her bag and hopped out. Athrun instinctively ran after her and Jona sat, stunned.

"Cagalli! What are you doing!" Athrun cried out. Cagalli turned to him and grinned widely.

"Forget the car. This is the fun part." She laughed, charging towards a meager path. Jona peered out from the car.

"So then, should we wait for her?"

Athrun thought for a moment. "No." He decided "Go back. I'll follow her and we'll return on our own."

Jona sat in the car and waited until they were out of view. Smiling a bit, he sighed.

"It's almost too easy..."

* * *

By the time Athrun caught up with Cagalli, she was in the middle of picking up a fallen tree branch and snapping off some branches. Upon noticing that he had joined her, she smiled and handed him the now made, wooden pole, and picked up another branch.

"Walking stick." She stated plainly, before he could even ask what she was doing. Her gaze flickered up for a moment and she frowned. "You brought the laptop?"

Athrun looked down to see that he had, indeed, carried his laptop with him. Making a feeble attempt to hide it behind his back, he sighed sheepishly. "Force of habit." he explained.

"Suit yourself." She shrugged, tossing his pole off to the side and picking hers up, continuing to walk down the path. "When I was little, I loved doing stuff like this. Hiking, climbing, fishing... I was a pretty outdoors kind of person." She admitted.

Athrun nodded and followed along. "I must confess, I'm not much of a nature person, but it can be pretty cool sometimes."

"I'm surprised that you've encountered nature at all." Cagalli scoffed. "It seems like all you do it lock yourself in buildings and type furiously on your laptop."

"Well, you know why I do that though..." He put his free hand in his jacket pocket and looked away. Cagalli bent down to poke at some brown mushrooms with her stick.

"Yeah. Work, you're busy, blah blah blah. We've all heard the sermon." She sighed. "Hey, I work hard too, but you have to know when to take it easy. You know?"

"But with me acquiring the company... I don't see how that's going to be possible anymore." He sighed. A thunderclap sounded somewhere in the distance and something cold hit his left cheek. Raising his hand to wipe it off, he stared at his wet hand for a minute, rubbing the water into his fingers then began to shake his head. _"Just another rainy day…"_

Athrun began to walk faster to get back to the resort before the rain got too hard. Meanwhile Cagalli had frozen in her tracks, staring intently at the ground, which was covered in natural litter like twigs and underbrush. Noticing how she had stopped moving, he turned to face her.

"It's starting to rain a bit... We should hurry." He noted, as if she didn't feel the fat raindrops hitting her head. Athrun had already wrapped his laptop in his jacket protectively.

Cagalli lowered her bag, then pulled out a small umbrella. Opening it, she plopped down onto a large rock to the side of the trail. "What did you say?"

"Pardon?" Athrun backtracked to her quickly and sat down under the umbrella, as the rain began to fall harder. Apparently she didn't want to walk, and he simply didn't have the strength to argue with her.

"What makes you say you won't have time?" She demanded. Athrun blinked, then looked down at the laptop, wrapped neatly in his jacket.

"Well, I don't have much experience. I'm not really qualified to OWN this company at all. So I'll really have to push myself now... otherwise, I just won't be able to do this." Athrun shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing on earth. "Sometimes I feel tired... but it's not like it's the end of the world." Cagalli shook her head in protest.

"Stop saying stuff like that. You were chosen, BECAUSE he thought you were the most qualified. You take so much responsibility... sometimes I think you forget your own age. Athrun, you're VERY accomplished for someone your age. There's no need to kill yourself over this."

His hands tightened around the laptop. "But I got here through hard work. I'll have to work harder to keep it, anyway you look at it."

"I think that... you need to work hard. I'm not telling you to slack off completely. But take a break sometimes. Hang out with us. Don't cut yourself off from the world. It's not like Kira, Lacus and I are just trying to drag you out to have fun." She turned to him and beamed. "Despite how boring you may find yourself, we have more fun when you're around too."

Athrun stared at her for a moment, while his words were absorbed into him, permanently marking his memory. In that moment, Athrun had never wanted to hug someone more in his life. Unfortunately, the weight of his laptop wouldn't permit him to throw his arms around her. That and the umbrella was relatively small, so one of them would end up half soaked. He swallowed the words caught in his throat. Then, taking the umbrella out of her hands, tucked his laptop under his arm and used his freed hand to help pull her up.

They walked together under her umbrella all the way down the trail, making small talk and light conversation. At one point they were so absorbed in their conversation, they had completely forgotten where they were heading… They were just wandering somewhere together. Then before they knew it, they had gotten back into town. Gradually, the tempo of the falling rain hitting the black umbrella began to slow. Stopping before a cross walk, Athrun fiddled with the handle of the umbrella, that he ha held up for them the entire time.

They stood there for a few minutes: Staring at her, he couldn't help but notice how majestic she looked. Her hair being tossed behind her by the strong wind, eyes considerate, yet determined. It was like staring at a statue, so much so that when she spoke up he was almost startled.

"Are you okay now?"

Athrun blinked. "Uh... Yes. Yes, I am thanks." He smiled lightly.

Cagalli stuck out her arm and open palm, flat towards the sky. "Hey look" She noted. "It stopped raining."

"It has?" Athrun's eyebrows raised. Cagalli nodded and placed her hand on his, pulling the umbrella down.

"Mm hmm. See?"

"Oh. So it has... I guess it must have just been a wet spell?" Athrun stared at the sky then looked at her.

"Must have been..." Cagalli nodded, taking the umbrella in her hands and shaking out the water, folding it back up. Finished, she turned towards him and smiled.

The stood at the edge of the crosswalk, staring at the area around them. Everything was soaked, drenched completely. Not a single inch of ground escaped the deluge. And underneath large trees, it looked like it was still raining as droplets of clear water collected onto the tips of leaves and fell in clusters.

But a funny thing... As the sun can out, and its warm rays peeked their way onto the earth, the fact that everything was wet made everything look cleaner. Even dirt shined with a refreshing brilliance, and the cool air felt so good that you couldn't help but take deeper breaths.

"Wet spells... never last long if the sun comes out." Athrun murmured, more to himself than anything.

"That's what the best part of having a sun is." Cagalli stated plainly staring at the light and waiting for the walk signal. Athrun looked at her with a puzzled expression. She turned to him and grinned. "Having it there to clear away the clouds, and brighten up the day."

Deep emerald eyes filled with warmth and he nodded in agreement. Turning back at the road...

Both of them were immediately drenched as a large van dipped into the puddle in front of them, scooping up water and splashing it onto them. Cagalli blinked. Athrun gaped.

And they burst out laughing.

The walk signal flashed.

"Let's go get dried." Cagalli suggested, her contagious laughter gradually subsiding. Athrun was still lapsing into spontaneous chuckling, but nodded nonetheless. Stretching out her hand, Cagalli grabbed hold of Athrun wrist and pulled him forward. The water made her hand slip, and Athrun caught it just as it fell into his.

Athrun blinked, and stared at their hands. As her grip on his hand tightened, his wet face began to heat up. Not noticing, Cagalli kept walking forward. Athrun looked up at her carefree face, smiled, and hurried to catch up.

"_I think I've found my sun…"_

* * *

**Well Athrun's at peace, and Kira and Lacus couldn't be having a better time. But what could Cagalli be sad about, and what could Jona possibly be up to?**

**Because this chapter was cut in half, the NEXT chapter will be titled: Bubbling Doubts. The trip wraps up, but how will the power of verbal persuasion come into play?**

**Once more, I am immensely grateful toward my reviewers and their support. The encouragement from readers in really very touching, so much thanks to everyone who's been following this story.**

**JusT LooKing ArounD, Eternally Asuka, Athrun-n-Cagalli, Orange Noel, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, Living Arrow, Freyris, clumsykelli, animeluver461, mehmehbaaaa, rain angst, jackie-88-ac, ANONYMOUS-gsd, IYGU, KiraFreedom, XxbuffyxX, XCrossMyHeartX, gseedlover, stuntsheep , cloudy mind, ANONYMOUS, koali alolao, Craze Izumi, astrocosmos, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, kura52, animemistress419, Maryam Khanoom, The Angels' Princess, ichigo kagura, Torri-Chiobie, FreedomElf, asga, purple1 **

**And now, I leave you in suspense.**

**Until next week!**


	10. Bubbling Doubts

**Now, Happy Thanksgiving to my readers in the United States. I hope everyone enjoyed it, almost as much as they'll enjoy this chapter.**

**Now without further delay, here we go!**

* * *

Athrun felt tired... thoroughly, exhaustedly, completely, totally, undisputedly... tired. After returning to the resort with Cagalli and then running to get dried off, he barely had enough time to grab his briefcase from his room, before his cell phone went off. Tearing out the door, he ran straight to the Resort's restaurant, where Mr. Saran had arranged to meet him.

After almost ramming into two perfectly clear glass doors, that he would have probably just broken through if he didn't notice the slight reflection of light at the last moment, he pushed through with his shoulder and scanned the tables.

"Whoa... easy there Athrun. You win, you win." A voice came from behind him. Athrun turned to find...

Cagalli. Clothes changed, hair dried, hands at her hips and eyebrows raised.

"What did I win?" He asked, still slightly breathless.

"I don't know. You tell me. You looked like you were racing or something." She shrugged, heading towards a table to sit down. Athrun followed her but didn't take a seat.

"I have a meeting in here..." He told her. Cagalli stared at him.

"In a restaurant?"

"Well we're supposed to meet here..." He responded, clearly a bit confused himself.

"Whatever man. I'm actually here to eat." Cagalli raised her right hand as if waving off the issue, then picked up a fork and pressed the prongs to her lower lip as she scanned the menu. Suddenly the door opened once more and in walked both Sarans.

"Mr.Zala! I hope I didn't keep you waiting long." the elder noted politely. Athrun shook his head and put on his most courteous smile.

"Not at all."

"Well then, let's get right down to it, shall we? I mean, it's a fairly easy transaction, if you don't mind me being too blunt." He laughed.

"I completely agree." Athrun smiled a bit more genuinely, slightly relieved by the casualty of the situation.

Jona shot a glance at Cagalli. "Will your guest be sitting in for the meeting as well?" Cagalli looked up from the menu, slightly startled at the acknowledgement of her presence. Athrun blinked.

"Oh no. Not at all. I just happened to run into her here while she came to get something to eat." Athrun explained. Jona stepped forward.

"Quite honestly, though I wouldn't call the food here bad, there is better. I don't suppose you'd allow me to treat you, Ms. Athha, to a meal?" He offered. Cagalli stared at him blankly, mentally questioning what the hell was going on and why she was involved.

"Well, we will be moving into a private room anyways, Mr. Zala. But Jona, that means that you're stepping out of this meeting?" Mr. Saran clarified. Jona nodded.

"As you said father, this is fairly basic. I'd like to excuse myself, to entertain Mr. Zala's guest, if you don't mind." Jona smiled, perfectly aware of how Athrun knuckles were turning white from gripping his briefcase too tightly. Surprisingly, the cobalt-haired young man had amazing control of his facial expression, and kept it stoic, with his eyes merely diverted. Meanwhile, Mr.Saran nodded in approval.

"That's fine. Well then Mr. Zala, shall we?"

Athrun's eyes snapped towards the elder Saran and he nodded numbly. He shot a glance at the bewildered Cagalli and bid her a brief farewell before following Mr. Saran into a private chamber, ever so slightly turning while closing the door. Cagalli sat there until...

"Well then, shall we be going?" Jona offered, extending her hand. She regarded it for a moment, then stood up on her own and nodded.

* * *

Minutes later, Cagalli found herself seated in a restaurant that was only a few minutes away... that had a menu remarkably similar to the one at the restaurant. Then again it was a free meal so who was she to complain?

"Need any suggestions?" Jona offered, opening up his menu.

"No thanks. I like to try new stuff." Cagalli shrugged. She looked up at the waiter.

"Vegetable soup and a salad please." She ordered, handing back the menu.

"That's it? Odd... you didn't strike me as the type to be dieting." Jona joked. Cagalli looked at him.

"I'm not. This is just a light lunch though, so I'm not very hungry." She explained. Jona placed his order, and a few minutes later they food had been brought out.

"So, tell me more about yourself. I feel like you know a lot about me, but I know very little about you. What do you do for a living?" Jona started.

"I'm currently taking a break off law school, and working at a waitress to earn money for my tuition." She replied, almost mechanically.

"Really? A lawyer... somehow I feel as though this profession suits you." Jona noted. Cagalli smiled faintly.

"Thank you."

"Now... why a waitress if you don't mind me asking?"

"I used to live abroad, then I moved here, and the first job I got was as a waitress. I guess now it's just easier to be one. There's always work and I have experience." She replied, once more in a mechanical tone.

"Interesting..." Jona nodded. "So then, just as someone who is in the service business, I'm a bit curious about what you think of the resort?" He started. Cagalli raised an eyebrow.

"Is this going to end up being one of those quizzes that you find in your room, rating the service?"

Jona laughed. "Sort of, but in person. What do you think?"

"It's nice. I like it a lot, but honestly all I've done is hang out on the beach and abuse room service."

"So I've heard." Jona acknowledged with a grin. "But it doesn't sound like you've done much. Any particular reason for that? Do we... not offer enough activities?"

"Not at all... to be honest I spent most of my time trying to get Athrun to do stuff." She laughed, unaware of how Jona's grin had widened ever so slightly.

"So how do you feel about Mr. Zala?" He started.

"Athrun?.. I don't know. He's a friend." She replied, taking another bite of her soup.

"I see..." Jona weighed the tone of his voice carefully. "Well you certainly are an interesting person. It's just that... Forget it. It's really not my place to say this." He shook his head, barely catching a glimpse of Cagalli looking up curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No really... what?"

"I'd hate to say this." Jona said casually.

"I'd hate to not hear it." She insisted.

"Well... you're just a waitress aren't you?" Jona asked, pacing his words carefully and regulating the tone of his voice. Cagalli stared in confusion.

"Just... a waitress?"

"I mean to say... you're a bit out of his social class. He has to start being more careful about who he associates with now. Perhaps you aren't exactly the best company..." He drifted off, as if holding his tongue.

Cagalli stopped for a moment, then wiped her mouth and placed in on the table. "Jona... If Athrun had a problem with associating me, I'm completely confident that he would have told me. And in addition... thank you for your concern but I assure you that you need not worry."

Jona blinked. His words had... no effect?

"I see. I apologize then."

"No need." Cagalli replied stoically.

And the two continued to eat: Jona not noticing the subtle difference in Cagalli's expression... And Cagalli finding the practice of conversation increasingly annoying.

* * *

Kira walked up to the restaurant door, pausing for a moment to hold it open for Lacus. Upon entering, they were led to a table for two by a young male waiter, who gave them their menus then left to wait on other table.

Kira looked around. "Pretty nice place. What do you want?"

"Not much... I'm not very hungry. Probably just a sandwich or something." Lacus shrugged.

"You seem distracted." He noted, tilting his head to the side a bit in concern.

"I do?" She looked up from the menu, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear. "I suppose it's just because of the play. I wonder if it's all right for me to be gone for such a long time. I'm responsible for so much of it."

"I'm sure everything's fine. After besides, once you get back you'll get started on it right away, with a fresh mind that was a ton of new ideas, right?" Kira quipped. Lacus smiled and laughed.

"That's true too." She nodded. Surveying the dining room quickly, she paused at the sight of a blonde head. "Hm? Cagalli's here?"

Kira looked up. "Where? I thought she was with Athrun... Not that I'm complaining. This way, he keeps her out of trouble and she can get him into more." He laughed.

Lacus smiled, squinting a bit to make out the figure sitting opposite of Cagalli. Her eyes suddenly widened a bit.

"Well... hate to break it to you but that's definitely not Athrun..."

"Should we… do something?" Kira offered… unsure of how to react. Athrun had never been happier, but Cagalli was his SISTER.

"No… I don't think that's necessary." Lacus turned in her seat to face the table once more, and Kira breathed a sigh of relief, tucking away this problem for a later time.

Because the last thing he needed as a parting gift was some odd romantic knot to untangle.

* * *

Jona stepped into his father's office. About an hour ago, he had just sent their four gests to the airport.

"Father, did the sale go well?"

Unato Saran nodded. "It was a simple one, so yes it went smoothly." Looking up from his desk, he looked at this son. "Jona, I'm curious. Why did you not sit in? I thought you were eager to."

Jona smiled a bit. "Well... you're going to be a bit mad at me for admitting this, but I was trying to distract Mr. Zala, by separating him from his guest."

His father's eyes narrowed.

"Not that it worked!" Jona added quickly. "It's strange... either they aren't a close as I thought, are much closer than I thought... Or Ms. Athha is a remarkable actress."

Bidding a quick farewell to his father, who he could expect a lecture from later, he closed the office door behind him.

"And if she is such a remarkable actress... Perhaps my interest in her wasn't completely false either."

_"Mr. Zala... Cagalli is quite a girl. Take good care of her."_

* * *

Athrun and Cagalli sat in the airport terminal, lounging around. Their return trip required a transfer... technically it didn't REQUIRE one, but since Kira had to go, it was most convenient to transfer here. Kira could hop on a plane to France, and the three of them left could just switch onto a plane back home.

Currently, there was another half hour before their flight, and Kira was boarding his plane. Cagalli had said a typical 'Cagalli goodbye', which included threatening to main him if he got himself into trouble, threats to strangle him if he didn't call, and finally, a circulation cutting hug. Athrun, who was stunned at the dramatic display of goodbye merely stepped forward to give a brief hug and well-wishing, then the both of them retreated to give Lacus her own personal goodbye time.

Now Cagalli was flipping through a magazine that she had bought, and Athrun was well... on his laptop. He'd started playing solitaire, but got bored after winning 10 times in a row, and switched to doing some work instead. Glancing over at Cagalli every now and then to make sure she didn't notice, something caught his eye.

She was holding the magazine upside down...

Raising an eyebrow and focusing his uneasy eye back to his computer screen then frowned... Either she was trying to challenge herself by reading upside down... Or she was so distracted that she didn't' realize what she was doing. Settling on the latter option, he made a mental note to ask her if anything was wrong, later. After all, if he asked now he's have a pissed off Cagalli to deal with the rest of the way back.

* * *

Lacus stood in front of Kira, smiling gracefully. Kira smiled back.

"Have fun."

"I will."

"Don't stress yourself."

"Same to you."

She gave him an innocent kiss goodbye, and a long hug.

"It'll be fine." He insisted. "I'll be back before the holidays, and definitely in time to see you on stage."

"I know." Lacus smiled. "Take care, and call me as soon as you get there. Cagalli's goodbye was a bit more... animated, but it's the same idea for all of us." She laughed.

Kira grinned. "Yes well, being able to feel my right arm is plus. Actually... she's usually not this... emotional. Watch out for her a little, okay?"

"Of course."

"All right then... I'll be going now." He nodded, gathering his things.

Lacus nodded, waving as he handed his ticket to the attendant, stepped through the gate, until he had disappeared from sight. Firmly blinking back the glossy tears watering at the tips of her eyes, she looked up to keep them from falling. Wiping the sides of her eyes briefly, she turned and headed over to Athrun and Cagalli.

* * *

Athrun leaned against the side of the entrance to the auditorium, where he and Cagalli had been told to meet Lacus. So far, neither or them had any idea what was going on, just that they had received a phone call from a frantic Lacus telling them to come immediately. About a day or so had passed from when Kira left, so it couldn't be that... Then again she start started working on the play today...

"Athrun! Has she come yet?"

He looked his shoulder and turned to face Cagalli, was just jogging over.

"Nope. I just got here..." He replied.

"Drop those words from the record, I'm right here." Lacus called out, running up to them from backstage. "Come, come, come, I need to try something first." She urged, pushing them forward without slowing her pace. Meer popped up from behind her to help push them forward.

"Wha- Lacus? What's going on? Why... are there two of you?" Cagalli did a double take, her trippy steps making her stumble a bit until she finally broke into a run, along with Athrun. Lacus and Meer followed suit.

"This is Meer... Long story, that's not the issue so I'll tell you later. I need you guys to do something..." Lacus explained hurriedly. Finally, pushing them into a room and locking the door. Cagalli and Athrun exchanged looks of bewilderment.

"You'll find two costumes in there. Please change into them!" Meer's voice called from the other side. Again, the confused pair looked at the outfits, then at each other, then back at the door.

"Change... with her?"

"Change... with him?"

Athrun and Cagalli simultaneously, gesturing to each other with their thumbs As if on cue, the door was flung open, and Lacus dragged Cagalli out of the room with the outfit in hand, then shut the door promptly again.

"Okay! Now change!"

Athrun stared, but seeing no other way out of the strange situation, quickly obliged.

"Do you have it on?" Lacus asked.

"Uh... sort of. I don't know how to put this thing on..." Athrun admitted, staring at the strange lump of cloth hanging in his left hand. The door opened again, and Lacus ran forward, grabbed the thing out his hand, then quickly tied it around his neck. Athrun just stood there, too stunned to react.

"What do you think Meer? Is it a fit?" Lacus asked, stepping back, hand on her hips.

"Most definitely." Meer replied, nodding with her hand on her chin.

"Fantastic!"

"What about me?" Cagalli cried from behind them. Lacus and Meer turned, and Athrun tried to look past them, then quickly covered his eyes and turned away.

"What the-? Cagalli, put some clothes on!" He insisted, relieved that his hands not only blocked his vision, but also his crimson face.

"I AM dressed!" She cried, her face equally red... either out of anger or embarrassment. "This is the costume! And it's about 10 sizes too big!" She finished, throwing her hands up. Lacus and Meer ran up to her, slamming Athrun's door shut in the process. Athrun took it as his cue to get changed again.

"It's not too bad... We can take it in a little." Lacus insisted, tugging at the costume's material and trying to pull up the straps of the top, which were so big on poor Cagalli that half of her bra was exposed... hence Athrun's reaction.

"Well... better big then small, right? This way we can just… cut out some of the extra material." Meer offered encouragingly. Angrily, Cagalli swatted their hands away and pushed them out the door to change.

"Why are we doing this anyways!"

"Well, you see…" Lacus started, her tone clearly anxious and hurried. "As soon as I got back, we found out there was a mistake in the booking of the theatre... We were scheduled to show the same days that this other company. Because they were first, we had to be moved... forward unfortunately."

"How far forward?" Athrun asked, buttoning the last button on his shirt and straightening the collar, once more opening the door. He stepped out to see that Cagalli had already finished re-changing back into her clothes and was standing in the hall, arms crossed.

"Well the play was originally going to show around the end of January...next year." Lacus fiddled with her hands nervously.

"And now?..."

"Now it's showing on December 21st up till Christmas Eve." Lacus sighed, dropping her hands to her sides weakly.

"WHAT!" Athrun and Cagalli both called out.

"That's not the worst of it." Meer started. "Because it has to be around the holidays, some of the cast can't be here for the show anymore. Some of them had understudies who are willing to stick around, which is okay. But three of the people that dropped out don't! I'm taking one of the roles..."

"So then there's two left..." Athrun muttered, his facial expression pensive.

"What roles?" Cagalli asked.

"Two of the main roles, unfortunately... a male... and a female..." Lacus answered.

A few moments passed, as the idea sunk in. Slowly, Athrun and Cagalli raised their heads, looked at each other then turned to the two pink-hair women before them, sporting similar expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"NO WAY!" They cried, Athrun's hands rose as a shield in front of him, as he slowly backed away, Cagalli's hand crossing in front of her.

"Please guys!" Lacus pleaded. "It's too late to hold auditions! You guys have seen a few rehearsals; You've even read my script! And I KNOW Athrun can act, he did all the main male roles in High School!"

Cagalli raised her eyebrows in shock, then looked at Athrun, who was stuttering sheepishly. "Tha-That was a LONG time ago, Lacus. I haven't even had a single role since. There's no way I can-"

"And Cagalli! Kira said that you were going to be a drama major, before switching to law!"

This time Athrun looked over in surprise. Cagalli took a step back. "No- ah, well Yes... But I was thinking more of directing than acting..."

"That's why you took acting lessons as a child?"

Dead silence ensued.

"It doesn't matter! You can't expect us to-" Cagalli started.

"But Ms. Athha! We don't have a choice. This is the last thing that Ms. Clyne wanted to do, but the show must go on and this IS our best option!" Meer persisted.

"But I have work..." Cagalli sighed. Athrun nodded.

"As do I."

"You guys don't even have to come daily like me! I trust you guys totally! Just learn the role on your own, and come to rehearsal once a week!" Lacus pleaded. "I swear I'll make this as easy as possible on you."

The two shifted uncomfortably...

"Just till Christmas?"

"Yes."

"Just once a week?

"Well... Maybe more often later on..." Lacus admitted.

Both potential actors frowned. With full time jobs...

"I doubt I can really... act anymore." Cagalli sighed. Lacus tensed ever so slightly, and Meer's face fell a bit.

"And I feel like I should think this through a bit more." Athrun said. Cagalli nodded in agreement. Cagalli nodded and a similar series of reactions occurred.

"But... I don't know, maybe I can make a deal with my boss or something."

Cagalli shrugged. Pausing for a moment, she extended her hand with a sigh. "Let me see the script again."

Lacus jumped up and clapped her hands together with glee. "And you, Athrun?"

"Well how can I not after you just did... that." He smiled, motioning with is hand to her with a chuckle. "I'll give it my best shot." He shrugged.

"I'm sure both of you will just be wonderful!" Meer smiled.

Athrun and Cagalli looked at each other with surrendering smiles.

_"Here we go..."_

* * *

**Well then, in a strange chain of events, Athrun and Cagalli are in a play! But what are their roles, and how will this affect them?**

**Next chapter: As Athrun and Cagalli learn their parts and meet the rest of the cast, quite a surprise is waiting for them.**

**Also, for added clarification, WAS Cagalli affected by Jona's words? (Side note: This is the last chapter that Jona will be appearing in.) In a word, yes. That's why I added the final bit, about how she actually IS an actress, Athrun as well. Thus it was hard for Jona to read their thoughts. But the main point is HOW were they affected by his words?**

**Finally, this Thanksgiving I can for the first time say that I'm thankful for my readers! I've written fanfiction for a little more than a half a year now, so your support for this fic is really touching, and very much appreciated. I also encourage you to review and tell me what you think, since the more input I get, the better!**

**anna, The Angels' Princess, daisukechibi, KiraFreedom, rain angst, imuzuok, G-K.N.I.G.H.T-S, astrocosmos, kura52, XxbuffyxX, psycogirl234, gseedlover, clumsykelli, ANONYMOUS-gsd, animemistress419, koali alolao, thousandbirds, Athrun-n-Cagalli, asga , IYGU, KaguyaEvenstar, Eternally Asuka, FreedomElf, cherrystraw, stuntsheep, XCrossMyHeartX, purple1, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, jackie-88-ac, Mahha55, ANONYMOUS, Craze Izumi, ichigo kagura, Maryam Khanoom, MXC - the show- rocks my socks **

**Thank you once more! See you all next week!**

**Periodic-Prose**


	11. Casting Calls and Quick Confessions

**Agh, late updating again! I'm genuinely sorry about this, to all my readers. I explain in more detail at the bottom, but for now I'll just get on with the story.**

* * *

Athrun stared at the script that had just been faxed to him... There was no way... What on earth?

Shortly after he and Cagalli agreed to take roles in Lacus' play, he immediately ran back to his office, only taking a short detour to drop off Cagalli at "The Grey Swan", the restaurant where she worked. Unfortunately they had left in such a rush that he had forgotten to take a copy of the script to look over, and called up Lacus to get her to fax it over. She'd sounded pretty stressed herself, but immediately faxed over a copy of the ridiculously long thing.

And now... he was left in shock. The sounder of a buzzer interrupted his perturbed thoughts.

"Sir? There's a Ms. Cagalli on the line."

"Put her through." He said promptly, flipping through a few more pages of the script with a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey Athrun?" Cagalli's distinct voice rang clearly through the speaker. Picking up the receiver and cradling it on his shoulder, he took her off speakerphone.

"Hey Cagalli. Just going over the script... Have you by any chance... looked at it?"

"Yeah, exactly what I wanted to talk to you about... Um. Does this seem a bit, strange to you?" She asked, trying not to be too blunt.

"Mildly speaking, yes." He frowned. "I'm not sure what confuses me more... the imperial army of zombies or the flying moves that I'm supposed to do..."

There was a long break in conversation, and Cagalli seemed to slowly take in his words… "Wha-. I don't know what part you're looking at, but I've got something about a talking hot dog bun and dancing muffins." Cagalli replied, as sounds of waiters calling out orders and her shuffling through the dense script occupied the background.

"What!" Both of them exclaimed in equal confusion.

"Hold on, I've got another call." Athrun hurriedly switched lines.

"Hey Athrun. Just calling to let you know that all my stuff finally came today. I can't get in touch with Cagalli though..." The speaker started. Athrun smiled at the sound of Kira's familiar voice.

"That's because I'm on the phone with her now. Hold on, we'll make it a conference call." He said, linking the lines. "Hello?"

"Hi."

"Hey. Whoa, hi Kira! How's it going?" Cagalli jabbered cheerfully.

"Good, thanks. What's going on with you guys? You sound kind of stressed."

"Long story short, we have roles in Lacus' play. I'm sure she'll explain to you soon. But we have some... issues with the script." Athrun sighed heavily.

"Oh?"

"Hey, you've read it before, right?" Cagalli asked. "Any idea why I apparently play the role of flying buttered toast?"

Kira remained silent.

"Or... maybe how they plan to have me dodge bullets in midair, like some guy from the Matrix, on stage?"

More silence...

"You don't see that every day..." Cagalli muttered.

"The toast or the Matrix?" Kira asked.

"Both." The actors-to-be responded.

"Hm..." Kira started thoughtfully. Taking a deep breath he sighed, "You guys must have only gotten half of it. I'm pretty sure it was about flying toast zombies that dodge bullets."

Athrun and Cagalli almost dropped their phones, before Kira burst out laughing. "Joking, joking. I think you guys have the wrong scripts... BOTH of you. When I read it, it was nothing like this... Call up Lacus and ask her about them. I have to go now, but make sure you fill me in on why you guys are acting later."

"Sure. Later, Kira." Athrun replied automatically, leaning back into his black, leather business chair and tossing the apparently, wrong script in the trash. Cagalli did similarly with hers, while bidding her brother a quick farewell.

"Shall I dial, or you?" Athrun chuckled in light disbelief of the situation.

"Be my guest." Cagalli responded. "Make it quick though, my break's almost up."

"Well what DO you know about this thing?" Athrun questioned, trying to see if they could put together what they knew for a general idea.

"Um, I play supporting female role. Main is Lacus."

"And I'm supporting male." Athrun added.

"No main male?"

"Not sure."

"All right, give her a call." Cagalli sighed. As soon as she answered, they immediately attacked her with a barrage of questions.

"Lacus, we don't' know what happened but I got a script about flying toast and Athrun got some science fiction show." Cagalli rambled.

Silence...

"You guys are kidding me right?"

"Dead serious." Athrun confirmed, playing with a click-pen that was lying on his desk. Meanwhile, Cagalli twirled the pencil she used for taking orders.

"Athrun, I probably faxed you the wrong one. I'll re-send it. Cagalli, what did you take?"

"The one in your dressing room, like you said." She replied.

"Ooo sorry! That was for a production by this agricultural firm, in retaliation for the Atkins' diet. They're trying to promote the consumption of wheat products..."

"That explains the toast..." Cagalli mumbled with understanding nod.

"I'll send the right one to Athrun, and he can just copy it and give it to you. Sound okay?" Lacus said in a rushed tone, clearly hurrying.

"Sounds good."

"Okay, thanks again guys. Bye."

"Bye." They both said, as Athrun rose to go stand by his fax machine. A few beeps later, the mechanical contraption was spitting out sheet after sheet of script. Athrun lifted the cover page.

"'Matchmaking'... sounds about right." He commented, taking up the next sheet and reading the summary. Pausing for a moment, a slow smile came over his face. Though it wasn't guaranteed...

This had the potential to be a very interesting performance.

* * *

"Okay guys." Lacus announced, pacing back and forth on the stage in front of the newly assembled cast. "First of all, please welcome our two new actors whom I am severely indebted to." She smiled, pointing to Athrun, who was leaning against a fake tree, and Cagalli who was comfortable seated on a prop bench beside him. Nodding modestly, they smiled at the warm welcome they received.

"All right, so let's get down to business. This is the first rehearsal we'll have as the entire new cast, together. Some of you guys were just understudies and may not be familiar with your roles. Athrun and Cagalli don't even KNOW their roles, so we'll just have a summary. Sound okay?" Lacus checked. Murmurs of approval bubbled through, and she smiled happily.

"So the basic plot to the play is that there's this professional matchmaker named Anna, played by myself-" She paused, as cheers rang out from among her peers. Waiting for the hubbub to die down, she continued. "So, Anna's working for an agency. She has a tendency to well, fail. Her saving grace is that she has matched one fantastic couple: Aaron Lethem and Megan Wrens, both of which are wealthy heirs to family fortunes. But all of a sudden, Aaron breaking his engagement to Megan and starting a relationship with his old friend, Shiri."

Athrun smiled a bit… As far as he knew, Aaron was a supporting male and Shiri was a supporting female. So the chances...

"Naturally, Anna's in big trouble now. She needs to make another relationship work by the end of the year, or she'll be out of a job. Stuck, she's determined to find a new relationship for Megan. Unfortunately, Megan's given up on men in general. And so after a bit of trial and error, forceful dating and last ditch attempts, Anna gets a lucky break and Megan falls in love with Anna's brother, Ian. Anna's keeps her job, and Megan and Aaron end up in happy relationships. And that's it. Now the cast..."

Cagalli sat up in interest. Athrun straightened.

"We're going to be replacing two roles, and moving a few around. So I got together with the old cast, and they picked who they thought would be most fitting as a replacement. Got it? Any complaints: Don't come to me." Lacus sighed, fully regretting the names she was about to call. A few people chuckled, thinking she was making a joke. However, staring at the crisply folded new cast list in her hand, Lacus was tempted to crumple it up and pretend it never existed. Then write up a new one... but the old cast had spoken, and clearly said who they wanted to replace them.

"Anna- Still me." She smiled. A communal laugh echoed through the auditorium.

"Ian, Anna's brother will be played by Derek." Several heads turned towards a royal blue eyed, black haired young man sitting in the corner, who waved casually and grinned.

"Aaron will be played by Athrun." Lacus continued, as another round of applause followed.

"And finally... Megan will be played by Cagalli, and Shiri will be played by Meer. So let's get to work!" Lacus finished hurriedly. A final wave of clapping washed through the crowd, as people began to disperse and work on their individual parts.

Athrun seemed stunned for a moment, as did Cagalli. Catching herself, she pretended to be looking for something in her bag, to keep her head down. Lacus regarded them for a moment, before turning guiltily and walking towards the sound booth.

"Sorry guys..." She sighed to herself.

* * *

"Hi, Cagalli? I'm Derek." The young man smiled, approaching her and extending a hand. Cagalli looked at it, then looked up at him.

"Nice to meet you. I guess we'll be working together?" She smiled as politely as she could. Somewhere inside her, she felt a bitter loss, for some reason she hadn't figured out yet. Meanwhile, Athrun had targeting his loss dead on, and was staring at a certain other supporting male actor intently.

"Yeah. Do you want to go over the lines?" Derek offered. Cagalli nodded and stood up, following him backstage somewhere. Athrun's eyes followed them, until he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Ath-Athrun? I just want to say, I'm really looking forward to working with you." Meer beamed, her cheeks as pink as her hair. Athrun smiled lightly.

"Yeah, same here. Want to run over the lines?" He asked. Meer nodded and flipped open her script. "Oh, by the way..." Athrun interjected, "You don't plan to keep looking like Lacus when you have a different role, right? It... Might get confusing." He noted. Meer's cheeks flushed a brilliant red.

"Of course not! I'm washing out the hair dye tonight..." She explained.

"Just checking." Athrun shrugged, eyes returning to the script, not noticing the glances being thrown at him by his cast mate. Meer blinked a few times in his direction, made a mental sigh, and turned her eyes back to the page.

* * *

Athrun grabbed his jacket, and swung it over his right shoulder, picking up his briefcase with his left shoulder and heading out. About 2 weeks had passed since he and Cagalli had agreed to take on roles. With the final few weeks before opening night, lately rehearsal had become more intensive and frequent. Today alone, he'd been at practice for about 6 hours and was fully ready to get out of there and do some of the piles of work sitting on his desk. Hearing footsteps rapidly approaching, he turned to find a frantic Cagalli running after him.

"Athrun... Can you... give... me... a ride?" She panted, her hand n her knees and her head hanging low.

"Sure." He shrugged. "Home?"

"No, work. I've got another shift." She explained, walking with a pace so fast that it may as well have been a jog.

"Another shift?... Cagalli you're kidding." He frowned. Another shift... add on the 6 hours of rehearsal... When did this girl have time to breathe?

"Something wrong?"

"Hm? No, not at all." He responded quickly, trying to brush off her suspicion. "Well, at least we have a long weekend coming up, so you can take a little break."

"Um... well, not really." She admitted. "You get time and a half on holidays, so I'm going to be working over the weekend too." **(A common practice: If you work on a holiday in a restaurant, you get counted for 1.5 times the hours you worked. So if you worked 1 hour, you'd get 1.5 hours worth of pay)**

"Cagalli, are you... in some sort of financial situation?" Athrun asked uneasily, opening the car door for her. The question had been plaguing him for a while, but he simply hadn't had the courage to ask. But lately, especially with the work of the play, he had no idea how her days were adding up to 24 hours.

Cagalli shifted her weight uneasily side to side. "Absolutely fine. I'm all right."

"If... you say so..." Athrun frowned apprehensively.

"I do. I completely insist. How's the company? How's life?" Cagalli asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Play is good I guess. Too bad we don't have many scenes together though... As for the company, I feel like I'm dumping too much work on the people that work below me." He sighed a bit.

"Don't feel guilty about that. I'm sure you're trying your best." Cagalli encouraged weakly. Athrun's eyes flicked over in her direction for a minute, and to his surprise, he found her...

Falling asleep?

"So um... how's life treating you?" He asked courteously.

"Ah, well the play's going well. Derek and I get along surprisingly well. He has a great sense of humor, so we end up just joking around half the time." Cagalli laughed ironically. Athrun smiled a bit, but failed to laugh due to the twinge of disappointment that shot through his chest.

"And work?"

"Ah, well same old same old. Lately there's been this one guy... I don't know him. He comes in a lot though. I mean, a lot. And he always sits at the same table, so I always end up being his waitress. It's kind of like how I met you." She laughed. Again, Athrun felt a tightening shoot through him, but kept up a pressed smile.

"Hey... Cagalli. About what I said before... About the financial thing. I mean, if your having trouble making ends meet, technically I'd be glad to help you out you know?"

She responded with a quiet hum.

"Cagalli?" He took a glance at her. She raised her head slightly. Another hum.

"Cagalli? Are you awake?"

"Yeah, yeah sure... My eyes are... just dry." She murmured, clearly sitting on the horizon between being dreams and reality.

"Cagalli, we're here."

"I'm sure we are..." She muttered softly. Athrun turned off the engine and leaned over her. By that time she had completely fallen onto the side of sleep. He paused a bit, taking in the subtle changes in her face that had happened over the past few weeks.

Her skin seemed more pale, and something about the way her eyes were closed made her eyelids look heavy. Her hair was tousled... Of course it's not like it was every very tidy to begin with. Leaning forward a bit, he began to focus on how peaceful she looked... Like she would never wake again. Sitting back for a second, he considered not waking her up, and simply calling her boss to let him know that she wasn't feeling well.

Then again... if she found out he had done that, she'd pummel him clean through the earth's crust.

Deciding against his better judgment, he tapped her on the shoulder... No response. He shook her lightly... still nothing. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he got out of his side and walked over to her door. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on her flopping out of the car the moment he opened the door. Quickly dropping onto his knees to catch her, he felt his face heat up due to their close proximity.

* * *

Cagalli frowned a bit... One minute she was peacefully sleeping... and then she'd started falling... and now she was pressed against some strange warn, unknown... thing.

Granted it didn't feel too bad at all, but all that moving around was getting to her. Opening a lazy eye she looked up to see...

"ATHRUN! HOLY- OW!" She cried aloud, trying to stand up immediately and hitting her head against the top of the car.

"Are you okay?" He jumped forward, clearly worried but also slightly amused at her childish reaction.

"I'm... fine. Are we here?" She asked, gathering her stuff.

"Yeah, I've been trying to wake you up for about 15 minutes now." He chuckled, helping her out of the car. She smiled, a bit embarrassed, but very grateful.

"Thanks." She smiled. He got back into the car, and watched her retreating figure enter the restaurant. Leaning car into his chair he closed his eyes and let out a surrendering sigh.

_"My lord... I've really fallen for her..."_

* * *

Cagalli strolled out of the restaurant, waving goodbye to her fellow workers and heading home. The late night air was crisp and cold, but home wasn't too far, so she could still walk. Turning the corner she jumped at the sight of Athrun, leaning casually against a brick wall with his hands in his jacket pockets, his hair blending in with the darkness of the night. He turned to her and grinned.

"Thought I'd walk you home, this late at night. We can cut through the park." He explained, pointing to his left. She appeared startled, then nodded and resumed walking.

"Thanks... It's a bit out of your way, isn't it?"

"A bit... but I was up anyways, so I thought I may as well." he shrugged. "How was work?"

"Decent." she shrugged.

"Cagalli... Can we speak seriously for a moment?" He sighed, seating her down on a park bench. "Kira's been calling me every day, paranoid over why you can never seem to take a phone call. And also..." He paused for a moment. Cagalli seemed to be... cringing. "The new term has already started right? So why aren't you taking any classes?"

Cagalli shrugged. "I figured I could work another-"

"Another semester? Be serious here." He frowned. "Tell me what's going on."

"There's nothing to say." She replied stubbornly.

"Cagalli!" Athrun spoke sharply. "This isn't funny anymore. You're the one that used to lecture me on working myself too hard. Now look at what you're doing! I just don't understand-"

"Well join the club!" She exclaimed. Athrun froze, clearly startled by her outburst. "I don't understand it either. I was always able to be independent before! I never had any problems! Now I move over here, and it feels like no matter how hard I work, I'm not moving anywhere. Nothing's working! I can't pay my own tuition, and I'm not going to ask Kira to carry my weight. Then with the play... I just have no idea what to do anymore! I'm running as fast as I can, but not getting anywhere!" She took a deep breath, clearly exhausted.

Athrun remained silent, as he tried to digest the torrent of words she had just thrown at him. She couldn't pay the tuition…? When did this happen…? For how long now…? He sighed, and shook his head. Asking himself questions wasn't going to do a thing. Looking over at her to see if she was all right, he finally spoke.

"We can help you, you know. If you'd only told us what was going on... and not hidden everything single tiny thing...I just don't know why you didn't tell someone."

"Because you have better things to do with your time, and I don't need to be babied..." She insisted, biting her bottom lip bitterly. For a moment neither of them moved. She stared at the ground, idly fiddling with he hands. The cold bit through her thin jacket, and she shivered a bit. Suddenly she heard him get up.

She kept her gaze steady, staring hard at the ground. Her eyes even narrowed a bit.

He was leaving...

Because she didn't need help. Not from anyone.

Her eyes shifted their gaze momentarily, and she looked at the side. Not lifting her head, she tried to look down the path... but was unable to see anything.

Lifting her head, oh so gradually, and sneaking another peek, she could see nothing. Not even the remains of his shadow walking away…

"Of course not."

Startled, her head snapped forward, where in the darkness she could barely make out his face, as he gently kneeled before her. The dim light from behind her was reflected off his eyes, showing their depth, pulling her in.

"I know that you're strong. If I left you here right now, I have no doubt that you'd be fine in a few days."

Cagalli was tempted to look away again. The wind blew through the branches of a near by tree, brushing away the shadow it cast over half of his face. In the sudden light, Athrun smiled.

"But having me here helps, doesn't it?"

And that was it. Cagalli slumped forward. Startled, Athrun leaned in to catch her if she fell. Grabbing onto her shoulders, he looked at her with concern. A streetlight cast light around her. Unable to see her face, he was only able to make out her faintly glowing outline, until she fell into him a bit more. Her breathing was normal though.

"You... caught me." She noted tiredly. Athrun smiled softly.

"Athrun?..."

"Yes?"

"Take me home." She murmured, pausing after each word. He let go of her to stand up and she shivered from the sudden loss of warmth. Noticing this, Athrun quickly gathered her in his arms again, then shrugged off his coat and placed it over her shoulders.

"Let's get you home to sleep."

* * *

Athrun gently opened her bedroom door, feeling around the wall for the light switch. Finding it, he flicked it on, and light instantly flooded the room. Cagalli seemed to squint a little, her eyes only half open. Leading her to the bed, Athrun lay her down, then quickly ran back to turn off the light. She repositioned herself a bit, and from this new angle he could make out her face from the light seeping in through the hallway.

Her eyes were closed, dried tears caught in-between her eyelids. Dark lines were gradually fading under her eyes but still visible, with her mouth curved in the form of a light smile that looked like it wanted to be wider, but just didn't have the energy.

"I won't ask you to always be here. I'm not that stupid." She sighed, shifting a bit, turning to the side to face him and tucking her right hand under her. "You're the head of a company... I'm... just a waitress..."

Athrun raised an eyebrow. Just a-? What on earth was she babbling about?

"But could you please ... be here when I wake up?" She finished.

Shaken out of his confused thoughts, he blinked in surprise, happy that the lights were out and she couldn't see the colorful reaction his face took to her request. Smiling gradually, he nodded and paused for a moment, wondering where to sleep... not on her bed of course. Lord knows what Kira would do to him if he found out...

Standing up, he walked towards the door. His hand has just fallen onto the doorknob when Cagalli spoke up again.

"Where are you going?..."

"Just the couch."

"So then... you'll stay the night?"

Athrun's face softened, and he looked at her resting figure carefully.

"Of course."

Stepping out of her room, he gently began to pull it shut. Pausing for a moment, he stopped, then released his hand gently, leaving it slightly open.

Just a crack.

* * *

**Well then! It appears Athrun's finally admitted his feelings, but what did Cagalli's outburst mean? Now that she's told him the truth, what will he do? And finally, 'just a waitress'? Did she really mean it?**

**Next Chapter:What could go wrong at just another day of work, for Cagalli?**

**Honestly now, this was a bit of a jigsaw chapter. A few parts had been written for later chapters and pasted into here, a few parts were moved out and pushed back. If the sequencing confused you at all, write any questions or comments in a review and I swear to get back to you. With new reply system, I'm hoping that, time permitting, I'll actually be able to reply to all the reviewers. **

**Firstly, I have to make a general apology about now inconsistent the updating has been for me lately. Personally, I'd really love to keep my solid weekly update, but lately I've been studying until about 4am, and at that time I'm really just too tired to write coherently. (I've tried it before, and ended up taking twice as much time trying to edit it). I have a late class on Friday though, so Thursday night I'm usually able to sit down and actually write. I hope that clears up any confusion.**

**This is one of the longer chapters I've written. I plan to have this run in tune with the actual date. So when the play opens at a few days before Christmas, I'll post that chapter the week of Christmas. It's a bit trickier than what I had planned though, since there's still so much to cover. So either my chapters will get longer, or I'll start posting more frequently. I'm not 100 sure yet, so I'll just wait and see how the next few are paced. **

**Finally! Thank you to my reviewers of the last chapter. This never really occurred to me until someone pointed it out: If you DON'T want your name to appear in the list of reviewers, please say so in your review. Otherwise, I automatically include all names.**

**ichigo kagura, SasukeLuver678, lil kagome 13, Kintora, Eternally Asuka, cagalli12, Athrun-n-Cagalli, animeluver461, cottongreentea, mehmehbaaaa, daisukechibi, rain angst, animemistress419, imuzuok, KiraFreedom, IYGU, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, The Angels' Princess, ANONYMOUS, morningglory, koali alolao, astrocosmos, Maryam Khanoom, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, gseedlover, XxbuffyxX, kura52, purple1, XCrossMyHeartX, Craze Izumi**

**Thank you to everyone who's given their support to this story. I'm very flattered and if possible, even more grateful.**

**Periodic-Prose**


	12. Dining Disaster

**Notice about updating and the Next Chapter at the End.**

**I won't ramble on too much for now, since I'm sure a lot of people just want to get on with the chapter. So here you go:**

**

* * *

**

The night waned on, until the sun rose the next morning. Somewhere in the corner of a darkened room, was a huddle of messy blankets curled up into a cozy ball, dozing off on a bed. And if you unraveled the layers of blanket for long enough, believe it or not, you'd find an innocent looking young woman with a tangled head of blonde hair, sleeping her blasted head off.

Or at least, that's what Athrun found when he woke up the next morning. At first he had completely forgotten why on earth he was IN Kira's apartment, and freaked out after waking up to the sight of a very unfamiliar ceiling. Gradually reviving his memory, he dragged himself off the couch and silently entered Cagalli's room

8:30 am... They had rehearsal in about an hour and a half. Deliberating whether or not to wake her but, he decided to let her rest for a few more minutes, at least until he made some breakfast. Of course, the smells and sounds of food on the stove ended up luring her into the kitchen anyways...

Turning at the sound of slippers padding softly across the kitchen tiles, Athrun turned around a smiled lightly. "Morning, sleepy."

"It's morning?" She mumbled, squinting in the light, her hands trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Well this isn't a midnight snack." He chuckled, strolling over and handing her a plate with some scrambled eggs on it. "Sleep well?"

"Like I would never wake again…" She sighed contentedly.

"Then why did you?" he asked, putting down the spatula in his hand and taking a seat across her on the table.

"My stomach disagreed." Cagalli said matter-of-factly, stabbing at a particularly large and fluffy piece of egg and popping it into her mouth. Athrun smiled and followed suit… with a smaller piece of egg, still caught in his thoughts.

As far as Athrun assumed, Cagalli has just wanted to get the matters of last night off her chest. In terms of whether or not it would be an issue that he would help her with... well he hadn't quite decided yet. If he intervened, chances were that she would get mad at him. If he didn't... well then he'd be mad at himself. For the moment, his self-hate was probably easier to take then full blown Cagalli rage... So he could hold himself back from doing anything... For now.

Suddenly Cagalli stood up, walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of ketchup. Athrun raised an eyebrow.

"Ketchup?"

"Yeah I always eat eggs with ketchup." She shrugged, the bottle poised to wallop and generous amount of the stuff. Athrun reached out and pulled the plate back hurriedly.

"You… You've got to be kidding me. I'm not eating eggs with ketchup!" He frowned, taking another bite. "Why can't you just eat it the way it is? All it needs is a bit of salt and pepper."

"It tastes better this way. Really." Cagalli insisted, hands on her hips with the ketchup bottle resting impatiently on her right hand. Reaching out for the plate, she tried it again. Again, Athrun withdrew the plate from her reach. Cagalli glared.

"Fine, here. " He gave in, dividing the remaining eggs with his fork. "This half is yours. This is mine. Do whatever you want with yours."

Satisfied, Cagalli squeezed a decent amount on the side, sat down, and continued eating. She looked up.

"Sure you don't want to try?"

"Positive."

"…You're stubborn."

"As are you."

Suddenly Athrun jumped back as a ketchup covered piece of egg was thrust in front of his face, waiting patiently on the prongs of a fork to be consumed.

"Just try it."

"No thanks."

Cagalli sat there, glaring at him fiercely. She could try to physically FORCE the food into his mouth, but then he might choke. Also… that involved physical contact with his lips. Suddenly she lost concentration, and started pouting a bit.

Meanwhile, Athrun was staring at the amusingly intense young woman in front of him, who was trying to look serious, yet seemed to childlike at the same time. Suddenly bursting into laughter, he almost fell out of his chair as the fork was pushed into his mouth as soon as it moved open the slightest bit.

"Well?"

"…Pretty good."

* * *

They drove to the theatre for rehearsal. As soon as they arrived, Cagalli hopped out of Athrun's car energetically. Athrun smiled, watching her bound towards the auditorium. Just one decent night of sleep and she seemed like the old Cagalli.

"Megan, my love!" A familiar voice sudden called out. Athrun stopped dead in his tracks. My... love?

Cagalli turned to her right and laughed. "Ian, my darling!" She responded. Athrun was absolutely paralyzed as he watched Derek jog up to Cagalli and hug her fondly, Cagalli showing no signs of resistance. As they broke free, Derek turned to Athrun.

"What do you think, man? Is it believable?" He grinned. Athrun blinked.

"Yeah... totally." he stammered, still mildly confused.

"It's our classic greeting now." Cagalli explained. "It helps us get in character before we rehearse... Well not really since this is completely out of character. But it's a fun way to say hi, huh?" She laughed.

Athrun smiled weakly, checking to make sure his heart had started beating again. "It's interesting all right. But I've never seen you guys do that before..."

"That's because as soon as you get here you start practicing with Meer, and you always come a little after me, so you miss it." Cagalli shrugged, trying not to put too much emphasis on Meer's name.

"But that's the end of that. Today, we start rehearsing all together. And guys, I want HONEST evaluations on how much we suck." Derek said in mock-serious tone. Just then another voice joined the conversation, from within the auditorium.

"I'm sure that you'll be great. All of you." Lacus encouraged, leaning on the doorframe. "So get in here so we can get started. The sooner you guys get in here, the sooner we can finish."

The three of there obediently began to walk in, when suddenly Athrun felt something tap his arm. Looking down, he smiled a bit, just missing Cagalli's slight change of expression, as her smile narrowed a bit and her gaze dropped to the floor.

"Hi Meer. How's it going?"

"Pretty good." She beamed. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, after rehearsal though. I want to get out of here early." Athrun laughed, walking forward and taking his place on stage.

"Ready?" Lacus checked, as everyone took their appropriate places.

"Let's get started."

* * *

**(Quick refresher: MeganCagalli. AaronAthrun. AnnaLacus. ShiriMeer. IanDerek)**

Megan stormed furiously out of Anna's office, as Anna rushed helplessly after her.

"I can't believe this!" Megan cried disgustedly. "He's getting married ALREADY! To-to HER!"

"I... am SO SORRY Megan!" Anna pleaded. "I was going to tell you, but I just couldn't seem to find the right time to. They got engaged on the 7th... and came to our agency immediately. I heard from word of mouth-"

"How long have you KNOWN!" Megan asked. Anna lowered her gaze guiltily.

"It... has been..."

"Is there something wrong here?" A voice called from offstage. Calmly, Ian entered from the left, holding a portfolio. Upon seeing Megan in tears, he rushed over immediately, dropping the folder in Anna's hands. Anna slunk back, knowing that her words wouldn't help anymore.

"Megan, what's going on here?" Ian asked caringly turning her to face him. She looked up bitterly.

"And how long have YOU known!"

"About what?"

"About how that stupid bastard of an ex-fiancé is ALREADY ENGAGED AGAIN?" She sobbed, tears glossing over her eyes and running down her face.

"I... I didn't know at all... I'm so sorry." He murmured, pulling her towards him and holding her, resting his head on her shaking figure. He turned towards his sister, who could only sigh and shake her head sadly.

"Anna! How are you?" A voice suddenly called. All three people on stage visibly tensed, and Megan's head immediately jerked towards the right, where Aaron entered, arm in arm with Shiri.

"We're here to deliver your invitation to the wedding. Apparently half of the ones we mailed weren't received, and so we're just hand delivering a few." Shiri explained in a chirpy tone, bouncing along happily. Suddenly, the happy couple froze as the cold stare of a teary-eyed woman bore down on them.

Aaron moved Shiri behind him protectively, fully aware of his former fiancé's temper. Taking a step forward, he tried a shaky hello.

"What? No invitation for me?" She spat out bitterly, suppressing the violent urges rising inside her as Shiri gripped Aaron's arm, and he clasped her hand tightly. Rushing forward, Ian grabbed Megan and pulled her offstage. Anna gave a final look at Aaron and Shiri, then left as well.

* * *

A roar of applause echoed through the forum, as the rest of the cast clapped. For the first run-through, all five of them had acted so naturally that a few women even had tears in their eyes. Cagalli strolled back on, wiping her cheeks a bit.

"I hate force crying." She laughed. "Because I can't stop for a while, and my eyes still get all red and stuff." Derek laughed and handed her a tissue. Athrun let go of Meer's hand and stepped towards Cagalli, leaving Meer with a forced smiled, as Lacus walked back on stage as well.

"That was... FANTASTIC guys! I can't believe that was just the first run-through!" Lacus swooned happily. "This is amazing."

"So realistic." Several of the techies on the side remarked in awe. Athrun couldn't help but agree. Watching Cagalli cry, he considered tying himself to a chair to stop himself from running out, pulling her out of Derek's embrace, and comforting her himself. As for Cagalli, she seemed to be able to find an odd irk, after watching Athrun step in front of Meer protectively.

And Lacus... She had no difficulty playing the role of an awkward fifth wheel at all! Watching Athrun and Cagalli glare at each other, for a while she was able to stop acting and genuinely worry about them.

Derek turned towards Cagalli. "YOU made me skip like... five lines, because you cut a part and so I lost my cue."

"I know, I'm sorry. We'll work on that... I guess we really have been goofing off too much." Cagalli laughed. Gradually everyone began to return to their individual work, with Lacus pulling Derek and Cagalli over to the side and checking the angles.

"You're at too much of an angle Cagalli. We can't even see you, and your face is crucial at that moment. So turn to the left a little. Yes, that's perfect! Remember that... and Derek, at this moment..."

Athrun and Meer watched attentively, as Lacus gave her stage directions. Suddenly, Meer spoke up,

"Hey Athrun? That was a great run-through!" She cheered. Athrun smiled, not looking at her.

"It was. Great job."

"Would you mind having dinner with me today night?" She blurted out. Athrun blinked and quickly turned his head to face her.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, it's just that... I feel like I don't know you well enough to actually act intimate. There's only so much acting I can do... I just can't pretend to be in love with a stranger." She explained quickly, trying to keep her blush down. Athrun shrugged.

"Makes sense. If you're having any trouble, we can do that. When and where?" He asked, beginning to gather his stuff together.

"Um... 'The Grey Swan' at 7pm?" She suggested.

"Sounds good." He agreed.

Not when she said it...

Not when he dropped off Cagalli...

Not even when he was getting ready to meet Meer...

Not until he started driving there, amazed at how familiar the roads seemed to him, did he realize what 'The Grey Swan' was.

His eyes widened, and he immediately pulled to the side, so that he wouldn't have a heart attack while driving.

"Oh god... Cagalli!"

* * *

Lacus sighed, punching in 1 on her speed dial for her video phone and smiling as soon as the face she wanted to see most appeared.

"Lacus! How are you doing?" Kira quipped, from the other side of the world. She smiled.

"I'm fine. Dead tired, but fine... We had our first whole cast rehearsal today."

"Oh? How'd it go?" he inquired curiously.

"Great. Athrun and Cagalli are just amazing, through and through. They almost broke my heart." Lacus sighed. She looked at him and grinned. "Even if YOU aren't sure about this, I am. It's obvious that Athrun likes Cagalli, and I want to help him." Kira nodded.

"Did they seem uncomfortable watching each other during rehearsal?" He asked.

"Not in the least, but we both know how well they can act."

Kira smiled at her. "Don't worry so much. You're going to tire out to easily. They can deal with their own problems."

Lacus bit her lip. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. "I know... I miss you." She said earnestly. Kira's calmly smiled and closed his eyes longingly for a moment.

"I miss you too... Out of curiosity, where are they?"

"Cagalli's at work, and Athrun's out to dinner." She drabbled.

"With?..."

"Meer." Lacus responded. Kira gaped.

"Athrun's on a date with Meer?" His eyes bore through the screen.

"No, no. It's just a 'get to known my co-actor better' thing." Lacus brushed off the possibility.

"Oh I see... Sounded like a date to me. Where?" Kira asked, a queasy feeling tossing in his stomach for some unknown reason.

"'The Grey Swan' I think?" Lacus replied uncertainly, her finger on her chin. Kira suddenly lurched forward, almost spitting out the mouthful of soda he had just tried to drink.

"WHAT!"

"What, what's wrong?" Lacus panicked instinctively, looking left and right frantically, her face clearly worried. "Oh for goodness sake... Find someone to pat you on the back or something! Are you okay? Kira!"

"THAT'S WHERE CAGALLI WORKS!" He gasped, trying to recover.

Lacus almost fainted.

* * *

Meer paced back and forth at the entrance. She had come almost 20 minutes early, but she wanted to make sure that she was on time. Carrying a purse and dressed elegantly yet simply, she waited for Athrun to arrive.

She wanted to call this a date... with every fiber of her being. Something about the mysterious blue-haired young man had simply captivated her...

Suddenly, his car pulled up. He burst out frantically, tossing his keys to a valet he seemed to know very well, and walked straight towards her.

"All right, so let's grab a table, preferably not by the window!" He blabbered. Meer stared, and looked at the section he was pointing to.

"That's the smoking section." She frowned., clearly not a fan of second-hand smoke.

"That's okay!"

"Do you smoke?"

"Absolutely! A pack a day!" He blurted out instinctively.

"...Do you have cigarettes on you?" She raised an eyebrow.

Athrun was speechless, staring at her blankly for a bit.

"...Non-smoking it is!" He exclaimed again, dragging her in. He looked around, then breathed a sigh of relief. The only empty table wasn't in Cagalli's section!

* * *

"Cover my tables for a second Cagalli! I'm taking my break!" A co-worker called out, handing her two menus. "A couple just walked it, so give them those."

Cagalli nodded, heading over to her friend's section...

Suddenly she felt the menus start to slip from her grasp as she stared blankly at the new customers...

The "couple" who had just walked in...

Who she had to provide service to...

Athrun? And, Meer?

A small part of her died. Or went comatose. Either way, something went MIA, because suddenly her brain couldn't function anymore. To bystanders, the stunned waitress seemed to have lost the ability to blink. Staring at the scene before her, she bit her tongue to check if this was some sort of bizarre dream.

But no. A sharp pain pulsed as she nipped the tip of her dry tongue confirming the fact that she was awake.

And at work. And now it was going to be her job, to make sure they had a nice and pleasant evening. Yet no matter how professional she tried to convince herself to be, a mental barrier rose and stopped the knotted feeling inside her from dropping.

Unconsciously, her body betrayed her, as waitress instinct kicked in and she strolled over to hand them their menus.

* * *

**Well then, any guesses as to what Cagalli might do? What about Athrun's reaction? And finally, what about Meer?**

**Only way to find out is to check out the next chapter: "Awkward Confrontations". Because when the unexpected catches you off guard… Just play it off. **

**Now, about that notice: Funny story. When I first started writing this chapter, I was sure that it would be a long one. I had a lot I wanted to cover, and just the basic outline was already pretty long. After I finished filling I up with details, and checking it over, editing etc. I found that I was right!**

**The FULL "Chapter"… was almost twice as long as anything I have ever written before. **

**Given my tendency to babble, I knew there was something wrong now. So instead of updating early as planned, I took an extra day to chop the chapter up into about 3 and a half chapters. Since I planned this to be just one chapter, and I have to work on a schedule, so that the story runs on real-time, I have decided to update in 3 to 4 days time. (I'm hoping that the end of this chapter still has enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat though)**

**Finally, the essential thank you to all my readers and reviewers. Last chapter, for the first time ever, I tried out reply system and wrote an e-mail back to almost every single person who reviewed (Sorry, to the anonymous reviewers but I have no way of contacting you). For those anonymous people, or those who may not have received the thank you letters, I will continue listing all my wonderful reviewers here:**

**Nicole, koali alolao, lil kagome 13, Astrocosmos, ichigo kagura, imuzuok, asga, AnimexMusica, Moonee, KiraFreedom, daisukechibi, Milky Way, cottongreentea, Unknown, mehmehbaaaa, Joy-phoenix-dragon, The Angels' Princess, Athrun-n-Cagalli, Smoke-Angel, IYGU, SasukeLuver678, kura52, Maryam Khanoom, XxbuffyxX, Kintora, purple1, rain angst, animeluver461, Eternally Asuka, animemistress419, stuntsheep, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, gseedlover, ANONYMOUS, Craze Izumi, cloudy mind**

**I'm so pleased that you all decided to review, and hope to hear from you again!**

**So then, until the next update,**

**Periodic-Prose **


	13. Awkward Confrontations

**Wow! I just so happy to see such a great response from everyone! Also, the same day that I posted up chapter 12, I was accepted into my first-choice college, so I'm feeling pretty good right now. **

**Now then, without further delay here we go!**

* * *

_Unconsciously, her body betrayed her, as waitress instinct kicked in and she strolled over to hand them their menus._

She froze, suddenly snapping out of her thoughts and finding herself only steps away from Athrun's table. It looked like neither of them had noticed her, so she took the few moments she had to steady herself.

"_Come on Cagalli... You're an actress. You can do this."_

Straightening herself as much as possible, she took her final steps forward.

* * *

Athrun felt like stabbing himself with a fork repeatedly looking up after seeing none other than Cagalli, standing before him. 

"Welcome to the restaurant, I hope you have a nice dinner." She spoke in an eerily and uncharacteristically cheerful tone. Meer's eyes widened.

"Cagalli! What are you doing here!" She asked excitedly, oblivious to how Athrun was slowly sinking in his chair, which may as well have been quicksand.

"I work here." The blonde haired woman beamed, plastering on a fake smile and forcing a cheery voice.

* * *

"Breathe Lacus! Breathe!" Kira cried frantically, his face as close to the video screen as he could get it. 

"I'm okay... Really…" She insisted, trying to take deep and calming breaths. "It's okay. I'm sure that Cagalli won't jump to conclusions."

* * *

"And what about you two? I had no idea that you guys were dating! Why, Athrun! How could you keep such a secret?" Cagalli swung her head to the side to look at him with a false expression of glee, as if waiting for an answer.

* * *

Kira raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? This is Cagalli we're talking about. She's pretty impulsive. And I don't know… Just hearing about it made me think it was a date. She's actually going to be seeing it." 

"But I'm sure she'll give Athrun a chance to explain. And they he can just tell her the truth and it'll al be cleared up." Lacus responded after careful thought.

* * *

"I-I uh…" The flustered, cobalt-haired boy stammered, eyeing the butter knife on the table temptingly, and completely at a loss of words. 

Cagalli politely handed them their menus and waved. "Anything to drink?"

"Just water." Meer replied casually.

"Poison…" Athrun muttered under his breath. Cagalli raised an eyebrow.

"I'll… just get you some water too"

* * *

"You sure about that either? Athrun can get pretty confused sometimes." Kira sighed. 

"That's true too." Lacus nodded sadly. "Very true… But what am I supposed to do, go spy on them?"

"Or… You COULD just trust them, and let them work it out?" Kira suggested with a laugh. Lacus smiled gently.

"Yes, that would work too… All right."

* * *

"Caga!-" Athrun finally started, but by that time she had already tossed them their menus and stalked off. He whacked himself in the head with the hardcover wine list three times, before opening it and letting out a heavy sigh. Not that he knew what he would have said... 

Maybe... "This isn't a date?"

Then again, it sure as hell looked like a date.

Goddammit.

* * *

"By the way, since the play's been moved up so I'll try to take an earlier flight so I can see it on time." Kira added, glancing at the clock on the lower right corner of the screen and frowning. "It's getting late here though…" 

Lacus nodded. "Sounds fine. Go to bed now." Waving a bit, until the screen went black. She spun to her left in the swivel chair she was sitting on, and reached out to grab a framed photo of her and Kira, taken when they were at the resort. It had taken almost half an hour, Athrun, Cagalli and herself, to finally get him to stand still for longer enough to take a picture due to his camera-shyness.

And so there they were, smiling against a perfect background of sand and sea, thoroughly exhausted but still absolutely elated. Fingering the silver frame she had placed the photograph in, she smiled.

* * *

Cagalli returned with two glasses full of ice, then went to grab a pitcher of water. She frowned a bit… Okay Athrun looked uncomfortable. Was that a good thing or not? Was it because of her? 

Faking a cheerful demeanor again, she approached their table and began pouring their drinks.

"_Okay… So he doesn't seem to want to make eye-contact with me… Serves him right!"_

"Uh… Cagalli?" Meer tried to catch her attention.

"_And why didn't I hear about it?"_

"Cagalli…" Athrun started.

"_Since when did this happen?" _

"Cagalli!" Athrun repeated.

"What?" She snapped, abruptly jerked out of her thoughts

"That's some funky looking water you've got there…"Athrun pointed to his glass. Cagalli looked down to see herself pouring piping hot coffee into a tall glass of crushed ice.

"Oh, crap! Sorry!" She quickly lifted the pitcher, slapped her forehead, and dashed back to grab the right one.

Meer blinked as Athrun chuckled softly.

"I wonder if she's all right…" Meer wondered aloud.

"She… did that, probably out of habit." Athrun smiled watching Cagalli's frantic figure weave in and out of table, back to the bar.

"Next thing you know, she'll be throwing bagels at me…"

* * *

Cagalli was positively seething. If she had a bagel, she'd throw it. As she walked away, she tried to steady her right hand, which was balled into a tight fist, with her equally shaking left hand. But why? 

Because she was mad at him? She had no reason to be! It's not like they were together... She had no reason to be mad at him, or feel like he was cheating on her.

Or want to choke him with is own tie.

Or stab him with the silverware.

Or beat him over the head with a stack of menus, then drown him in onion soup.

Was this jealousy? Certainly not! THIS... was the product of a long day's work. Then to see them so casually enjoying dinner... Indeed. Surely that was the only possible thing she could be jealous about.

She took a deep breath, and made an honest effort to convince herself.

And failed miserably.

Letting out the breath in disappointment, she turned at the sound of her name being called out.

"Yes?"

"Could you come over here for a minute?" The young man, that had been coming so frequently lately waved her over. I need to talk to you about something.

"I'm afraid if it'll take long, I don't have time. Tonight's a busy night." She explained, knowing that he had a tendency to ramble. And also, she just wasn't in the mood to provide sympathy to anyone.

He looked down at the napkin on his lap, and she knew that meant he had a lot to say. "Well then, save it for another time." She shrugged, turning and beginning to walk back to the kitchen.

When suddenly she felt something engulf her from behind.

* * *

After Cagalli had left, Meer had launched into pleasant conversation. Or at least, Athrun thought it was pleasant. He wasn't really sure because… well… he had no idea what she was talking about. So far, her life story it sounded like a how an unfinished puzzle looked. In the times he paid attention, he mainly heard something about a goldfish, paper dolls, and a ballerina costume. Which put together meant her life story was about a paper doll goldfish in a ballerina costume... 

And somehow, he had severe doubts about that theory.

But if you added all his other thoughts, you'd have to add Cagalli. And how cute she looked in her uniform. And how disappointed she looked at first. And how heartbreakingly cheerful she pretended to be. And how angrily she sulked off.

And how loud she screamed…

Wait a minute.

Screamed?

Whirling around, he caught sight of a shocked Cagalli trembling in the arms of some random man that seemed to have hugged her from behind. The people sitting at neighboring tables had quickly retreated to a safe distance, fully confident that the customer had gone mad.

As for Cagalli, well she looked too terrified to move. Eyes wide, her pupils were turned to the side, as if trying to see who was more or less on TOP of her. Bolting out of his seat, Athrun raced over.

The man appeared to be... shaking for some reason, blubbering in barely coherent but VERY lord words.

"If I don't confess my feelings for you now, I'll die of secret passion! I simply can't live without you! Please say you say the same!" He bawled. And with that he swung her out to arms length to face him, clasping her shoulders. Cagalli frowned at the idea of her being whipped around like a rag doll...

As for Athrun... well he could only raise his eyebrows in disbelief and frown.

"You have GOT to be…"

* * *

"_KIDDING ME!..."_

Cagalli cursed a thousand times over in her head. If not for pity and sake of her job, she would have killed this guy three times before he even hit the ground. Tightening in disgust, she could only bear with it, as he blubbered words of devotion.

Of course she was also the color of a fire hydrant at this point, not only being the center of attention, but the center of attention, apparently due to some sort of sick, twisted, warped love gone horribly wrong.

She pictured her boss lecturing her about how the "customer is always right" and so as a server, she was to do anything he wanted, to make his stay pleasant.

"_I wonder if that includes falling in love with him…"_ She sighed.

Of course not. That didn't make any sense. What made sense, LEGALLY, was for her to kick this guy's ass for sexual harassment, in a professional surrounding no less! Yet this option presented a few problems:

1) She was wearing a uniform. That included a skirt. So she hypothetically speaking, COULD kick his ass… but she'd end up flashing half the restaurant too… And something about that just didn't quite.. AGREE with her

2) She was… slightly too embarrassed to do anything.

Temper vs. Embarrassment. What a dilemma… Usually she would definitely follow through with her homicidal urges, and after the initial shock wore off, that's exactly what she planned to do. But she barely had recovered when a voice came from behind her, the interruption suddenly springing her free from the death grip.

Quickly taking a few steps back, it wasn't until she was almost to the edge of the crowd of people, that she realized who the voice belonged to…

* * *

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to hold in your dying passion for a moment longer…" Athrun sighed, a hand to his forehead. Infinitely relieved as the stranger let Cagalli go and she quickly got away, he continued as best he could to keep up the distraction. 

"Why? What does this have to do with you?" the man spat bitterly.

"Well… me not so much. Your 'significant other'… very much."

The man visibly paled.

"She hired me to be a private investigator, to tail you. And I'm afraid if you continue to do this, I'll have to tell her everything." Athrun continued nonchalantly. Within five minutes, the same deliriously passionate mad man had run out the door and was tearing down the street at full speed screaming the name of… some woman. Presumably his wife or girlfriend.

Nobody moved… Until Cagalli started clapping. Turning around, Athrun grinned at the sight of an amused expression. Soon her applause was joined by everyone else in the restaurant. Giving a mock bow, he managed to slip out through the crowd, and back to his table. Cagalli quickly ran to the back, eyes still completely on her.

* * *

Meer sat at the table nervously, playing with her dark hair. The dye was all gone now, so it was back to its natural black color. Still the same length… but it was a bit plain in color… She was a bit plain herself… 

Sighing, she looked up to see that Athrun had come back. He had been pulled aside by the management, for a description of what had happened. Meer forced a smile.

"Everything all right?"

"Yeah, I think so now… They're sending Cagalli home for the rest of the night." He responded, placing the napkin on his lap and tucking it into his belt.

"Sure you don't want to follow her?"

Athrun blinked and his head jerked up to look at a somewhat sad Meer, who wore a sympathetic smile on her face.

"What do you mean by that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You worry about her a lot… don't you?" Meer continued, ignoring his question. Athrun shrugged a bit.

"Sure… She's like a sister to me. I mean… she's my best friend's sister." He answered casually.

"That's it?"

Athrun paused holding his fork in midair. Redirecting his gaze to face Meer's neutral expression, he quickly averted his eyes.

"More… or less."

What the-? That didn't make sense. Well… no it made SENSE. But it wasn't…

"_The truth…"_

"Does Cagalli know?" Meer continued, as if reading his thoughts. She was looking away now, hair hiding her eyes and expression still unreadable. Athrun stared at the fork in his hand for a minute, inspecting the prongs with his fingertip, studying his reflection off the brilliant silver.

"Probably…"

"_Not…" _

"You better go get her Athrun… Because the only person I'll give up on you for is a someone who… Really matters a lot to you." Meer's voice grew quiet, barely allowing Athrun to catch her last words. He sat there, fiddling with his cutlery a bit longer before standing up abruptly. He thentook his coat, said a quick goodbye to Meer and left hurriedly.

Meer sat there for a moment longer, lost in her thoughts. Refolding the napkin and placing it on the clean white tablecloth, she sighed. Standing up, she left with melancholic smile. Though she'd expected she would cry… for some reason no tears came.

"_I guess this is a good sign…" _

* * *

After Meer had left, Athrun soon followed, opting for the long way home in hopes that he might still be able to run into Cagalli. And as luck would have it, he soon caught up to the surprisingly un-traumatized blonde, strolling down the dark streets. 

"You know, it's dangerous for girls like you to be out here alone, so late at night." He joked loudly. Cagalli stopped, recognizing the voice, and spun to face him.

"Absolutely Athrun. What with predators like you walking the streets, what woman could be safe?" She rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "What are you doing here? Thought you were having dinner." She tossed the topic into the conversation, trying to keep a perfectly neutral voice.

"She walked out on me." Athrun shrugged, finally catching up.

"You're kidding." Cagalli stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Nope." He shook his head, declining to go into the details.

"Sorry that the date didn't work out…" She muttered out of courtesy.

"It wasn't a date… Just dinner."

"By the way, thanks for your help back there. You really didn't have to do that." She stated lamely. Athrun frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… you were a customer. You shouldn't have gotten involved… The manager would have dealt with it." She shrugged in response. Athrun stared numbly.

"Ri-ight… and in the meantime he'd just hug you and continue professing his love?" He smirked. Cagalli shot him a sharp glare, and he shrugged in return. "Besides, I'd hardly call what I did, unnecessary." He pointed out. Cagalli seemed taken aback.

"You think it was necessary?"

"Completely."

"Explain."

"I shall." Athrun grinning widely. His face suddenly grew serious, and he looked at her earnestly.

"You aren't just my best friend's sister anymore. Remember when I told you… a really long time ago… 'That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet?'"

Taking a deep breath of icy air, he turned to a very flustered Cagalli, who was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm in her bulky coat. She nodded slowly.

"But… viewing a rose from different perspectives, it's still a rose too, right?"

She nodded again, for lack of a wittier response. Usually she liked to play devil's advocate and argue the other side for fun, but something told her this wasn't the time…

"So then… As Kira's sister, at resorts, as an actress, as someone getting sexually harassed by a very likely insane man…" He chuckled, "You've still been that odd waitress I met at a coffee shop, months ago. And as much as I try to not see you in the light of a blonde waitress who fascinated me months ago, you consistently pull me back."

"This is a rather long-winded explanation of why you helped me, isn't it?" Cagalli commented, trying to get him to hurry up and stop talking as soon as possible, before her head exploded from overheating. She buried her face in the collar of her jacket.

Athrun smiled. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I think it was necessary, because to me you are… Someone who…"

"_Dammit… Say it. Just say it…" _His mind pushed.

"Matters." He finished lamely, yet still breathing hard.

"_Sorry mind, heart, whatever."_

It wasn't a lie.

It just wasn't the full truth. He'd tell her that later. Like... When he had more courage, or with 10 seconds to live, or something to that extent.

Cagalli lifted her head, and seemed somewhat surprised,

Or was it disappointment?...

Some sort of blank expression was covering her eyes, the fail-proof window into her feelings... When suddenly she broke into a smile.

"And though not so much, you're still that laptop toting random guy that kept coming into my cafe." She laughed and began trotting along again. Athrun chuckled fondly and followed her.

Yeah, definitely still the same Cagalli...

"So... how did you know he had a girlfriend?" She asked out of curiosity.

"I didn't. That was a lucky guess." Athrun replied automatically.

Suddenly, Cagalli's face turned into a scowl and she glared daggers at him. "A… A LUCKY GUESS!"

Athrun's eyes widened, realizing what he had just said. Looking at a seething Cagalli, he quickly turned and tried to run away, before all hell broke loose. Suddenly he felt something hold him arm back. Looking over his shoulder to see a somewhat still furious, but reluctantly grateful Cagalli, he sighed in relief.

"You're lucky it worked." She muttered, suppressing a smile.

"I've been pretty lucky all day." He grinned back.

* * *

Kira opened up a window on his computer and went to the browse for airplane tickets. Since the ones he had wouldn't get him back until January, he'd have to swap them, or something to that effect. 

Clicking around for a while, choosing the appropriate price, and finally sitting there drumming his fingers on homerow.

_"Searching for your tickets..."_

_"Searching for your tickets..."_

_"Search complete!"_

Kira paled.

There was no way... this was possible. He had even checked with the travel agency just a few days ago, to make sure it would be okay. So then how on earth?... WHY on earth, were the words:

_"Search yielded 0 results. Sorry, we have no tickets available."_

Glaring rudely back at him from his computer screen?

* * *

Cagalli flopped down face first onto her bed. Long day. Tiring day. Surprising day. 

Disappointing day...

Disappointing? How? Rehearsal was great. Work was, granted a bit strange, but still good. So then...

"_I could read it in his eyes…"_

He just didn't say it... Not that she was expecting it. So what if he didn't say what she was expecting?

"_It's just not what I wanted to hear..."_

He said something else. Something infernally vague that could be interpreted in a thousand different ways. Heaven knows what he actually meant...

"_I matter?..."_

A lot of things mattered. What the hell was that supposed to mean? And why was he being so vague? And why did she CARE?

"_Because he matters..."_

No argument there. But... mattered in the same way she does to him? Unless she mattered in a way, that she thought was the way that he mattered... or he mattered in a way that she thought she matters...

"_What the hell?"_

Losing her train of thought, or rather getting thrown off it into the land of confusion, she grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her knees, frowning slightly.

"_Accept it."_

Accept what? There was nothing to accept. She rolled over restlessly, the pillow now pressed under her stomach and sandwiched between herself and the bed. Of course he mattered. He mattered

"_More..."_

Okay a LOT more…

"Than I'm letting myself think." She mumbled, her words muffled by the sheets she spoke into.

_Dammit_.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. Now that Cagalli's admitted her own feelings to herself, all that's left is for them to confront each other!**

**... Of course this is often the hardest part.**

**Currently I have no idea how long the next chapter will be, but I'll try to get it up by the end of the week. My schedule's pretty tight right now though, so that doesn't look too likely. Nonetheless, I'll try my best, or I'll end up posting a horrendously long chapter. We'll see…**

**Thank you to all my reviewers again! Once more, I tried to reply to all of your thoughtful comments, and I think I managed to get just about all of you. If not, really sorry about that! **

**Athrun-n-Cagalli, kura52, Freyris, KiraFreedom, asga, Kintora, rain angst, joyphoenixdragon, ANONYMOUS, Eternally Asuka, animemistress419, FreedomElf, Maryam Khanoom, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, SasukeLuver678, purple1, lil kagome 13, XxbuffyxX, gseedlover, Princess Ashes, Moonee, IYGU, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, astrocosmos, The Angels' Princess, Genny-chan, cloudy mind, koali alolao, Yukimi noh Daiomoru, animeluver461**

**So, now I'm going to try and do 5 hours of homework in the 2 hours of time I have… dies**

**Periodic-Prose**


	14. The Effects of Waiting

**Well, school is killing me again. Forgot to announce it last chapter, but this will be the second last chapter, so I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Athrun sat at his desk, idly tying away at figures. Admittedly, he was disappointed. He had meant to tell her, in all honesty. He just... didn't.

Okay, he chickened out, no need to rub it in.

But confessing your feelings to the girl you love isn't the easiest thing in the world. It's not easy to tell her that the mere sight of her can brighten up the bleakest day. Or that no matter what she's wearing, or what mood she's in, she always looks beautiful through your eyes. Even when she's crying, and the only thing in the world you want to do is see her smile.

Yeah. That's not easy. Especially for the romantically-impaired.

His phone rang, and he answered it numbly. Hearing the voice of his best friend come through, he did his best to snap out of his daze.

"Athrun?"

"Yeah. What can I do for you?" He asked automatically, tilting his chair back onto its back legs.

"...I love you."

Athrun fell out of his chair as the abandoned phone hit the desk in a rather loud fashion. Snatching it up, he was greeted by the sound of his best friend struggling to breathe in between gales of laughter.

"What?"

"Just joking man. I needed to get your attention somehow." Kira clarified, trying to suppress his amusement.

"Oh... Oh I see. What's up?" Athrun asked, gently lowering himself back into his chair, his other hand on the desk in a vague attempt to steady himself as he tried to recover.

"I need a hand."

"A hand?" Athrun raised curious eyebrow.

"A favor." Kira replied, tweaking the wording of his last phase.

"A favor?"

"A HUGE favor."

"Well, what is it? I'll see what I can do." Athrun promised, leaning into his chair.

"I need a plane."

Silence...

"...I don't think I can help you there. Why do you ask?" Athrun answered warily, not sure if this was just a joke or not.

"I can't get a plane ticket back in time for the play!" Kira hollered. "I've tried everything! But all seats are books or something! I mean, this is impossible! It's like the world's against me!"

"Not the world, just your life." Athrun sighed. "Don't blame the world because you're too busy. At least you can come back early."

"It's a relief to say the least... How's Cagalli?" Kira inquired casually.

"She's... okay. I guess. What can I say, she's busy." Athrun hesitated, unsure of his choice of words.

"Mm... And how are you?"

"Hm? I already said I'm fine."

"All right... And uh, how long have you known Cagalli now?"

"A couple of months?" Athrun answered easily.

"And when did you realize you'd fallen for her?"

"A- wait what?" Athrun snapped back to reality, welcomed by the sound of Kira's laughter.

"I hope you weren't trying to keep it a secret, because you were doing a relatively miserable job of it. Luckily Cagalli's just as blind as you are."

"Gee thanks." Athrun retorted sarcastically. "Actually part of me is wishing she had figured it out. That way I wouldn't have to tell her myself..."

"Don't worry about it. It'll happen, though Lacus and I can help speed up the process when I get back." Kira grinned.

"I thought this was just a visit. You're coming back permanently?"

"Yeah, as soon as I get back I'm going to quit this program. They don't need me at all over here, and I'm basically doing exactly what I did last year. There's no point." He frowned in disappointment.

"Your choice." Athrun shrugged, smiling a bit though. It was obviously there was also the "I miss Lacus" factor involved, that he either wasn't admitting to, or just wasn't even aware of. And he was happy for Kira, he really was. Being able to be with the person that he loved... and know that she loves him too...

He suppressed the twang of jealousy that struck his chest and switched the phone onto his other ear. "So what are you going to do about plane thing?"

"No idea." Kira shook his head sadly. "I've tried everything... I just don't think this is going to work. Just... don't tell Lacus."

"About the staying permanently, or the plane?"

"Both. I want the first to be a surprise, and as for the plane... I'm going to keep trying. I've been put on the waiting list for a ticket for now, and maybe I'll get lucky."

"How lucky?"

"Like... 214th place lucky?" The auburn haired young man replied with feigned optimism. Athrun chuckled softly.

"Miracles can happen."

"Yeah, I'll just keep praying for one. Thanks though."

"No problem."

Dropping the phone back into the cradle, Athrun stared at his computer screen for a while, before opening a new window and starting an e-mail.

"Miracles can happen... but so can best friends."

* * *

Cagalli propped up a ladder then carefully climbed up three steps before Lacus handed her a box of bulbs. Two of them needed to be changed, and she had offered to help.

Today was the one day that they only had half a day of rehearsal all week. Lately Cagalli had been able to get out of work a lot more often, milking the excuse of "mental trauma" for all it was worth. As a side thought to the play and life in general, she'd also started considering a job change. One that had better pay, batter hours, and something that could maybe get her back in school. For some reason, after telling Athrun about her problem, she'd felt motivated to do something.

Oddly enough, he hadn't brought it up at all. Part of knew she wouldn't get a lecture, and the other part was kind of disappointed she didn't. Didn't he care at all?

'Course that was just it. He did care. Enough for her to deal with it herself. But he would at least be there if she needed him, at least that much was assured. As for last night...

She had no idea what he was trying to say. Call her romantically impaired but Athrun was harder to figure out than a rubix cube. The boy could seem so clear one minute, then say something completely irrelevant the next.

Just like he would put her on the top of the world with a passing glance, then have her crash back down the moment he looked away.

Finishing with one bulb, she reached back down for Lacus to hand her another one.

"Hey... Lacus," Cagalli started.

"So you really care about Athrun huh?"

"Wha-" Cagalli almost fell off the ladder. Gripping the sides firmly, she looked down with a crimson face and stammered.

"La-Lacus! Where did that come from?"

"...It took you 15 minutes to screw in one bulb. You had to have been thinking of something." She blinked, looking up at her friend.

"How... did you figure it out?"

"Most obviously, he's the only person you can be calm around, even when you're at your angriest. At the same time, you get frustrated a lot by him, but you're still smiling while you yell. Talk about a love-hate relationship." Lacus laughed. "That and many other things I suppose. When did you realize it?"

"I... I don't know." Cagalli stuttered, hurriedly screwing in the last one and climbing back down. "I think last night... He tried to say something, then didn't? And... I don't know. I felt something because he didn't..."

"Disappointed?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"What were you expecting him to say?"

"I'm not sure. But I think I wanted him to say something."

Lacus smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry Cagalli. It was months before Kira could look at me without blushing and speak coherently. And Athrun's about as good in the romantic department as a brick."

Cagalli laughed somewhat sadly as Lacus patted her on the back softly. "It's only been a few months since he met you in that café."

"You know about the café?" Cagalli looked at her in mild shock.

"Of course, Athrun told me about a certain 'very interesting waitress' the day he met you. I just put the pieces together. And Kira's probably figured it out too. He just... finds the idea of his best friend and little sister together... kind of awkward."

"I can see that... just the idea of my brother knowing how I feel about his best friends makes me feel awkward... That and it's Kira, so him feeling uncomfortable is expected."

"Don't worry." Lacus smiled. "He trusts Athrun too much to kill him... I think."

The two women laughed aloud, then Cagalli hopped back up to get to work again. Lacus turned her head to watch her leave and beamed.

"Maybe the casting wasn't so bad after all..."

Standing up to follow the blonde, she brushed off her pants then grabbed a box that Cagalli had left.

"Serendipity works in their favor..."

* * *

Athrun strolled into the auditorium, tossing his bag and jacket onto an empty seat. He had just finished work and dashed right over for the half day of rehearsal scheduled. The time: 5:30.

Stopping to take out his script, he stumbled forward for a moment as he bumped into someone.

"Oh, hi Meer." He turned around and gave a brief awkward wave.

"Hello Athrun." She greeted as casually as possible. The events of last night were still fresh on her mind, but she could at least act as normal as possible. Besides, it didn't hurt as much as she had expected it would. In some ways, she had seen it coming and prepared herself for it.

"So, how's your day been?" He inquired.

"All right. I mostly just slept in." She smiled. "It's good to have a break."

"It is." He nodded in agreement, unsure of what to say next. After all, she kind of did confess deep feelings for him just the night before, only to say that she was giving up on him. You really don't hear THAT everyday...

Luckily for him, it seemed as though Meer already had a topic chosen. "So have you talked to her?"

"Yes..."

"Did you tell her?"

"Kind of."

Meer raised an eyebrow. "Kind of? Did you tell her or not?"

"No...It harder then it looks."

"I know." Meer nodded sympathetically. Athrun looked at her and smiled apologetically.

"Try that holiday cast party that Lacus is throwing." She suggested.

"You mean this thing?" He asked, taking out a white envelope from his pocket. "I don't know..."

"Don't look that way. If you don't hurry, someone's else is going to make a move on her." Meer warned in a teasing tone.

"Like who?" Athrun's face held a jealous expression.

"Oh, I dunno." Meer replied in a teasing sing-song voice. Turning towards the stage she smirked mockingly, then shot a glance at Athrun and gestured towards the stage.

"But Derek seems interested..."

* * *

"Cagalli!"

She turned in the direction of the voice that had called out to her, seeing Derek jog up to her, waving something in his hand. "Hey Derek, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. You?" He responded politely

"Not bad. What can I do for you?"

"Have you gotten this yet?" Derek asked, showing her the letter in his hand.

"Invitation from Lacus? Yeah."

"You going?"

"I guess. My brother's going to be there, and so I may as well send Christmas Eve with everyone, after the play." She shrugged. After all, there was absolutely no way she was going to work anymore. Worst comes to worse, she'd get fired, and she was looking for a new job anyways.

"Cool. Are you bringing anyone then?" He grinned, wondering if she'd take the hint or not. A loud clang was heard as Lacus dropped a tin can of stage props. Everyone turned to face her and she blinked at the sudden attention.

"M-My bad... carry on." She smiled, trying to brush off the incident. Bending down to pick it back up, she sighed. _'Athrun... You better move fast.'_

"Well then..." Cagalli smiled, "To answer your questions, I kind of just got heard about it, so I haven't really thought about it."

"So then... How about going with m-."

"Heeey Derek!" Meer burst out cheerfully, flying out from the side and quickly turning him away from Cagalli, to face her. "How are you?"

"Oh, hi. Well I'm uh-" He started, words failing him due to the surprise. Meanwhile Athrun hid his face in his right hand out of embarrassment.

_'The help is much appreciated... but you'd think she could find a less conspicuous way about it...'_ He sighed. Looking up, how watched Cagalli stared blankly at the scene before her, then stood up and quickly walked over.

"It's been so long since we've talked!" Meer chatted on, nervously shooting glances at Athrun as if urging him to hurry up and ask Cagalli before Derek recovered from the shock.

"It has." Derek responded awkwardly.

"Anything new?"

"Not really."

"Are you going to Lacus' holiday party?"

"Actually yeah. I was just about to ask Cagalli if-"

"That's awesome, let's go together!"

"A-what?" Derek's eyebrow shot up in surprise.

"Want to?" Meer tried her hardest not to look obvious. Meanwhile a very flustered Derek still looked horribly lost, Athrun still looked embarrassed, yet eyed Cagalli out of the corner of his eye, and Cagalli... still had no idea what was going on.

"Well... I was about to ask Cagalli if she would want to accompany me..." He smiled, turning towards the now rapidly blinking blonde.

"Me?" Cagalli repeated in shock, pointing to herself. "You mean.. me?"

"I don't see any other Cagalli's..." Derek laughed, pretending to look around.

"I... I'm flattered." Cagalli finished lamely. She had only just heard about this thing! Turning him down would be cruel, but at the same time...

She sneaked a peak at Athrun, who seemed completely ambivalent to the situation. He was standing right beside her, but wasn't even looking in her general direction... DID he care? Lacus had told her to hang in here, and hinted towards some deeper feelings, but what if they were all reading too much into him?

After all, according to last night... she just... "mattered".

* * *

Athrun found it unbelievably hard to watch Cagalli actually think over Derek's offer. Why didn't she just say no? Technically, Kira had offered him encouragement earlier in the day... but never really explicitly SAID that his feelings were reciprocated. So what if it was all just a mistake?

What if this whole time... he was chasing after a lost cause?

Then with just four little words, he felt his world come crashing down.

* * *

"I guess that's okay..." Cagalli said, much quieter than she had intended it to be. Her eyes darted towards Athrun again, and for a moment she thought she saw him flinch.

* * *

Ahh, yes. Flinching. The subtle external response to the feeling of his heart being crushed by two tons of anger, jealousy, disappointment, and worst of all, self-pity. As hard as Athrun tried to stop himself from reacting, his urge to punch something was subdued.

* * *

Derek was ecstatic and reached forward to hug Cagalli, causing Meer to abruptly let go of him. Giving Athrun a glare, she shook her head in disappointment. Suddenly, she felt someone tap her shoulder, and felt herself get gently led away. For a moment, she watched Lacus' calm expression with surprise.

"Shouldn't we?-"

"Right now the last thing he needs is us to start scolding him. If I know Athrun, he's going to take it harder on himself than any other person could possibly blame him." Lacus sighed, silently praying for a miracle.

* * *

Walking away, Athrun didn't even bother to look back or say goodbye to Cagalli. He had never felt more frustrated in his entire life. in the span of five minutes, he lost his chance. THE chance.

Then again, even if he had asked first, would she have said yes? After all, she did agree to go with Derek...

shoving his hands into his pockets, he was suddenly reminded of a very important piece of information that he had completely forgotten about.

In some ways he was feeling bitter about it. In his hand, he held a piece of paper that could bring two beloved people together, yet for all his work, he got nothing.

_'What work?'_

Well... Technically, he didn't really WORK. He didn't really tell her either...

_'So then... how was she supposed to know?'_

She wasn't supposed to. Obviously, that's why he wanted to keep it a secret... He pushed open an emergency exit door, ignoring the defective alarm, knowing that it would turn off as soon as the door closed. Walking outside, and feeling the cold air blow through his shirt, he frowned.

Even if he had told her... would it have been different?

God knows...

Looking at the piece of paper again, she unfolded it and took a cursory read of the text. Pulling out his cell phone, he once more called Kira, collecting his scattered thoughts as the phone rang.

"Hey, Athrun. Anything wrong?" Kira greeted upon answering. "Aren't you at rehearsal...You didn't tell Lacus did you?"

"No, not at all. But I did find you a ticket..."

"You're kidding! Athrun, I think I really do love you!"

"Save it for Lacus. And it's not all that great. It arrives like... an hour before the show starts, so you're going to either have to learn to fly, or miss the first act or so." He explained.

"That's okay, I'll sneak in."

"... Your seat's in the front row."

"Soo..." Kira asked, not sure what Athrun was implying.

"There is absolutely NO way, you can sneak in without her noticing. Nor can your seat be empty without her noticing."

"Your kidding."

"I wouldn't kid about something like this..." Athrun assured.

"I'll... figure something out. I guess. It's better than nothing. Thanks though... Is everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You sound different. Low spirited..." Kira commented, confident that something that happened and almost just as sure it involved Cagalli.

"No, it's nothing at all." Athrun replied, in a feeble attempt to brush off his best friend's concern.

"...Okay. Thanks again." Kira spoke hesitantly.

"No problem. And really, don't worry about it. Just, come back for Christmas." Athrun tried to sound as convincing as possible, completely unaware of how badly he was failing. Hanging up, he turned around and swung open the door again with a sigh.

"Well... At least they deserve a nice Christmas." He muttered softly, slowly making his way back to the auditorium.

* * *

**Ah, yes, the classic mismatched date . Why on earth is it so darned hard for these two? And could it possible get any worse?**

**Well... we'll see. Next chapter is the final act: "Mistletoe, Miracles and Mayhem". As play and party come together will two shy people be able to do the same? Only way to find out is to read on!**

**I am... ridiculously pressed for time this week. I have about 4 tests and projects coming up, and no time to write! Unfortunately I wasn't able to reply to any of the reviewers last time, but since this is the second last chapter, I will definitely be responding. After that one, I will be posting up an epilogue, in time for New Years. So, be sure to catch that. **

**Thank you to all the reviewers and readers though! I don't know where I'd be without your support. **

**lil kagome 13, CelicaChick, sweet lisa, astrocosmos, koali alolao, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, Kandida, AnimexMusica, IYGU, KiraFreedom, Kintora, asga, thousandbirds, Belle, kura52, gseedlover, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, Eternally Asuka, XxbuffyxX, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, chocoholic-green, Moonee, Yukimi noh Daiomoru, ANONYMOUS, cloudy mind, stuntsheep,ichigo kagura, Maryam Khanoom, BabuBear, SasukeLuver678, animeluver461, Princess Ashes, animemistress419**

**Until next chapter!**

**Periodic-Prose.**


	15. Mistletoe, Miracles and Mayhem

**SO sorry for not posting this on time! (I'm about half an hour late) I was having some serious issues with uploading, and then for some reason a large chunk got erased and I had to completely rewrite that from memory. **

**But, here it is: The final chapter of "Waiting On You". Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

"...So then Cagalli's going with this Derek guy?" Kira clarified. Currently, he was sitting at the airport in-between flights, on the phone with Lacus, and getting filled in on recent events.

"Yeah, Athrun froze up I think. Poor guy..."

"Geez... I know I was opposed to pushing them together at first, but now I'm all for it. Lord and love of- Are they EVER going to make it?"

"Well... it IS Christmas Eve. Maybe they will..." Lacus said wishfully. After all... it WAS Athrun and Cagalli they were talking about.

"Hey, I'm her brother. Doesn't this Derek guy have to go through my approval or something?" Kira frowned, clearly peeved by how the excitement in his sister's life seemed to have picked up the moment he had left the country.

"Somehow... I don't think that would work with Cagalli. If that happened, she wouldn't be allowed to date anyone." She laughed, amused by how true her words probably were.

"Nonsense. I'd let her date some guys."

"Like who?"

"... Like Athrun."

* * *

Cagalli burst into the dressing room, a good half hour late and with only two hours to spare. For Christmas Eve, there was a surprising amount of bustle outside, making her navigation to the theatre take twice as long as she had anticipated. 

"Cagalli! There you are! Where have you been?" Lacus called. "You were supposed to be here-"

"I know! I know! Whatever, I'm here now. Getting ready only takes a second anyways!" She responded quickly, tossing her stuff into the corner of the door then running out the door.

So far, the day was looking pretty hectic. Right now, she had to do help with all the preparations. Then immediately following the play, everyone was supposed to go to Lacus' house for a huge Christmas party. But somewhere in between she'd have to shower and change and everything, then meet Derek. Then again he was going to be here anyways, so did it really matter?

A thousand thought whirred through her mind faster than she could compute them. And much to her frustration, every single thought seemed to be lined with the name "Athrun".

In that... she hadn't spoken to him since she agreed to go with Derek.

Not that she should feel bad. He wasn't making much of an effort either. And what reason did he have to be mad? It's not like he had asked her first or anything.

And certainly she wasn't expecting him too. So her disappointment was obviously from some entirely... different... source.

Damn she was a bad liar.

Pulling at her hair in frustration, she flung open the door of her dressing room, about to run into the hall after Lacus when she rammed headf0rst into...

Athrun.

"Oh Sorry! I- oh hey... there... you. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. Lacus told me to call you. We need to get started." He responded calmly. Cagalli frowned in mild annoyance. How could he act so nonchalant?

* * *

Athrun had never felt more like a duck in his entire life. In that though on the surface he probably was holding up a decently passable expression of indifference, underneath he was fighting against the current. 

The current that was pushing him towards Cagalli, trying to convince him to confess.

Then his mind kicked in and he looked around. Just hours before the show, in her dressing room, where they hadn't spoken in days... Not the most ideal setting. Besides, she was going with Derek to the party, wasn't she? Surely he could hold in his feelings better than that wacko at the restaurant.

After all, he was fairly sure he wasn't at risk of "dying of secret passion" or whatever that guy had boasted.

He was just... him.

* * *

"Let's... get going then." Cagalli nodded, pushing past the apparently unmoving Athrun and into the hallway, desperately trying to avoid eye-contact with him. His perfectly placid front never failed to make her feel a bit anxious when confronted with it, and today the tingle down her spine seemed to be amplified by the general atmosphere. She heard steps behind her, and knew that he was just behind her. And as much as she wanted to turn around... 

She just couldn't.

* * *

Kira stared at his watch... Though he was now seated comfortably in his airplane seat, he couldn't help but grow more and more anxious. The play was starting soon... In his conversation with Lacus he hadn't told her anything, merely that he was "on the way". 

As impossible as it sounded, he was determined to get there in time. He simply couldn't miss a minute of it. And so even if it killed him, he'd get there.

Maybe he'd be able to rise from the dead or something to watch it. After all, a promise was a promise. And there was absolutely no way he was going to miss this.

* * *

"He better not miss it..." Athrun muttered, stepping on stage and looking at the empty seat reserved for Kira. It was front row center. If he WASN'T sitting in that seat, the space would stick out like a sore thumb. 

Meanwhile Lacus also eyed the empty chair nervously. On the phone he had sounded like he was hiding something, and even though she couldn't quite place her finger on it, it was there. She had considered asking Athrun, but if it was anything worth asking about Athrun wouldn't betray his friend's trust.

Hoping that her suspicious were merely paranoia due to nerves, she tried to push the thought aside.

* * *

"Cagalli, you look great" Derek complimented, approaching her from behind. She turned to him and rolled her eyes. 

"Derek, I look exactly the same as I usually do."

"Still looks good to me." He shrugged in reply.

Meer watched the scene guiltily. For some reason, she felt partly responsible for what was happening. Maybe if she hadn't distracted Athrun he would have made a move earlier. Then again, Derek was a pretty cool guy.

"He's good looking from certain angles..." She remarked to herself quietly, studied him by tilting her head slightly to the side.

For a moment she could swear she had heard a song. Quickly, she scanned the area, but the inky-haired actor was nowhere to be seen: Not that he'd probably want to see this anyways.

Sighing and turning to finish her part in preparations, she failed to notice the slumped figure in the shadows, who turned to walk away shortly after.

* * *

Upon the moment that plane landed, Kira ran out of the plane with a speed that could very likely take out any unfortunate object, either human, animal or inanimate that happened to be in his way. After harassing guards, gate personal and even the elevator for being so slow, he was off and running. 

Tearing out the door, with his luggage in hand, he quickly jumped into the road to grab a taxi, tempted to save time by jumping on the roof or something, instead of actually getting in the cab.

"Where to?" the driver asked cheerfully.

"The Symphony Theatre! Hurry!"

* * *

Lacus peered through the heavy velvet curtains for a moment. The auditorium was packed, and they were about to start. But there was one glaringly empty seat in the front row. 

Kira...

"Where could he be?..." She murmured, her voice muffled by the thick material. Athrun approached her softly.

"Ready Lacus?"

"Hm? Oh... yeah. Hey Athrun?"

"He'll be here. Promise."

"It's just that... I don't doubt him. I'm just afraid if something happened to him, and he can't help it..." Lacus admitted fiddling with her hands nervously, eyes diverted to the side in the general direction of the empty seat.

"I know. Don't worry." Athrun assured, biting back hesitation. Technically, Kira WAS coming... just not as soon as he was making it sound. Then again, it WAS possible. Just... not very unlikely. Unless of course...

* * *

Kira had never wanted wings more in his entire life. Nor had he hated traffic so much. But, a few blocks to the theatre, he had been forced to throw a few bills at the driver, which would amount to a very generous tip, then run down the street at full speed. 

Rounding a sharp corner, he barely avoiding colliding with a streetlight and the hard ground. Scrambling upright, he continued to run.

* * *

Out of time. Lacus sighed, as the curtain rose to reveal a still empty seat. Cagalli shot a nervous glance to Athrun, who tried his best to smile. Off to the side, Meer watched Derek carefully. He seemed, surprisingly reserved. Maybe he wasn't feeling well, or... maybe he was feeling bad? 

After all, if there was anyone that could understand the sinking feeling of knowing that the person you cared for could only smile for another, it was her.

* * *

Ramming his shoulder into the door as it swung open violently, Kira proceeded to run. Anyone else would call what he had just done absolutely brilliant. For him, it just wasn't' fast enough. The play was already starting, and it would take another few minutes before he reached the actual theatre, due to the winding stairs. 

Swallowing to try to relieve his dry throat, as the door into the theatre came into view, he collected his energy and sprinted forwards as fast as possible. Unfortunately his wet shoes slipped against the tiled floor and...

* * *

Lacus felt the warm glow of the spotlight started to come up on her. Taking a final glance at the empty seat, she sighed, momentarily forgetting her lines. So he wasn't going to make it after all... 

When suddenly she was interrupted by the sound of the doors being flung upon and...

A suitcase, then young man tripped, then falling down... down... almost half way, before quickly getting back up, retrieving his suitcase, then running down to front row.

And taking his seat.

The audience burst into laughter, and Lacus stifled a giggle, instead smiling fondly at the one she was waiting for. Kira blushed violently and then stood up to take a bow.

"Ladies and Gentleman, Kira Yamato." Athrun introduced, shaking his head with a laugh.

* * *

"To... A standing ovation!" Cagalli toasted. 

"To... A candid, but very entertaining fall." Lacus added. The cast laughed, and looked at Kira, who was so used to the teasing by now, that he just laughed along with it. Hugging Lacus from behind, the joyful lady turned around to kiss him lightly, before clinking glasses with several other people and taking a sip.

After that, the group broke apart and began to disperse, wandering around Lacus' house to enjoy the party. Pretty much everyone had just gone straight to her house but Athrun had said he needed to take care of a few things, last minute.

Cagalli eyed the door for a while, before Derek turned her around, by waving a hand around her face.

"Cagalli? Yoo hoo, you in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry." She apologized. Derek grinned.

"Have you... taken a decent look around?" He asked, waving his right hand in the general direction of... around.

"Sort of... why?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Did you pay attention to the doorways?"

Cagalli's eyes narrowed as she began to examine the house, and her eyes shot wide open as soon as they saw what had happened.

* * *

And Athrun almost dropped everything he was carrying. 

Mistletoe...

Under EVERY single doorway.

The place may as well have been covered with it. Amused by how some people seemed to be very carefully passing under doorways, taking care to do so alone, while couple eagerly strolled in and out of rooms, stealing kisses, he sighed.

Walking up to Kira and Lacus, he handed them both wrapped presents.

"Sorry Lacus, last minute stuff to take care of. Here you go." He grinned. "Now as for your choice of decor..."

Lacus beamed. "I'm quite proud of it... though, it WAS Kira's idea."

"This way, all you have to do is stand under a doorway, and you're sure to find love." Kira explained, motioning towards a "random" doorway that Cagalli just 'happened' to be close to.

Sighing at their... strange, but thoughtful action, Athrun hugged them both. "Thanks for trying guys."

* * *

Meer sat on a couch, happily conversing with one of guys from the tech crew. As he got up to go get more food, she stood up as well, in search for any of five people. Cagalli and Derek, to see how close they were acting, Lacus and Kira to talk to them, or Athrun, to check on him. 

As luck would have it, she bumped into Athrun first.

"Meer! Hey, great job today. Merry Christmas." he greeted warmly.

"You too Athrun. How are you?" She asked, clearly with a hidden context.

The cobalt haired man smiled a bit. "I'm... I'm okay. Haven't seen her around, so... so, is something wrong?" He stopped mid-sentence, noticing her visible change in expression.

"If you haven't seen her around, then don't turn around." She warned. Athrun froze. Right... behind him? Well technically he wasn't sure if he wanted to see her... together... with someone else, but then again, it was still her. Sneaking a peek behind him, his heart fell as she...

* * *

Walked RIGHT under a doorway with Derek beside her. 

Stupid stupid stupid, very stupid Cagalli. She cursed, mentally beating herself in the head. After a while, she had just forgotten there was mistletoe, since she had spent so much time in the next room.

Derek turned towards her and smiled. the rest of the room fell silent.

And a certain blue head didn't even turn around. Rather, he simply left the room through the other door, without even looking her way, as other heads turned to watch him. Meer gaze them a nervous glance, before following after Athrun.

Cagalli felt a twist shoot from her heart to her arms, which felt dead hanging on her sides. He didn't even want to see her... Swallowing hard, she turned back to Derek, quickly blinking back a few tears lining her eyes.

* * *

Derek had never felt more miserable in his entire life. 

Despite how he was with the most amazing woman he had ever met, he had never felt worse. Or more like a jerk.

Clearly, she was having doubts. Yet he still pushed it. When he had asked her, he just wanted to know how she felt...

And despite her yes... it was pretty darn obvious. Sighed at the gathering crowd around them, he led her away, passing under another 3 doorways before getting somewhere more private, the kitchen.

"Cagalli... Forget the... Four kisses you apparently owe me now." He sighed, shaking his head at her confusion. "Because I think there's someone else out there who would really like meet you under a doorway, and say Merry Christmas."

Cagalli blinked for a bit, before beginning to nod, slowly, but surely.

"Am I that obvious?" She chuckled weakly.

"I'd have an easier time hiding an elephant in a shoebox." Derek replied, rolling his eyes a bit. "Now, go on. And make sure you're careful going under doorways."

Cagalli nodded more firmly, before smiled widely. "I'm sorry, by the way."

Now it was Derek's turn to nod. "So am I." He responded politely, before ushering her out the door, falling a few steps short so he wouldn't walk under it with her.

Stopping for a bit, he sighed. "Can't a guy get a break on Christmas?" He shook his head in disbelief and walked out.

Bumping right into Meer.

"Oh, sorry Derek! I just saw Cagalli walk out and so I thought I'd ask you if everything was all right. I mean I heard you mumbling something about getting... a break." Meer's words slowly, as her eyes drifted upwards, and stared at what he was pointing to just above them.

Mistletoe.

Looking back at him, her eyes widened. Derek grinned and stole a chaste kiss.

"Hmm." He laughed happily at her astonished face. "Guess they can."

And somewhere on her face, he could swear he saw a flicker of a smile.

* * *

Cagalli felt, relieved. to say the least... and the first person she wanted to see now was Athrun. 

Then she saw him, and froze.

What on earth was she going to say? She couldn't just stroll up and tell him that Derek told her to 'go get 'em' and so… Here she was!

Lame... Shaking her head to clear out the insanity, she took a quick survey of the room. She needed... time to clear her thoughts. Spotting a window, she smiled. It was snowing outside. Snow always helped clear her mind. Grabbing her coat, she rushed outside to find...

Athrun?

* * *

Athrun turned abruptly, hearing the door slide open. His eyes widened as he caught sight of a stunned Cagalli who had been stopped in her tracks by the sight of... him? 

Well... no Derek. Then again, she had probably just kissed him about fourteen times after walking under countless doorways. His stomach gave a painful twist, as he tried to put on a smile.

"Hello."

* * *

Run. 

That's what he instincts told her. Cagalli's mind went into panic mode. Her eyes flickered upwards. No mistletoe, turning to run back in, she was suddenly held back by an arm that shot out from the side, just out of view of Athrun.

Startled, she looked at who had grabbed her only to see...

Derek, Kira, Lacus, and Meer standing barely in the doorway, but surely enough, the doorway.

"Try walking away Cagalli, and you'll be kissing all four of us." Kira teased quietly, careful not to let Athrun hear or notice them.

"There's no mistle-" she whispered fiercely, interrupted as four fingers pointed upwards.

The other side of the door, had a very small but still definitely, piece of mistletoe.

Her eyes looked pleadingly at the four firm figures under the door, begging them to move. Instead, Kira's arm gently pushed her out.

* * *

Was she... running away from him? 

Athrun raised an eyebrow as she turned around and attempted to bolt.

And raised the other in surprise as she slowly backed out again.

"You...Okay there?" He checked slowly. Cagalli turned abruptly, causing him to take a step back.

"Uh huh! sure! I just... though I forgot my gloves but they're right here!" She laughed nervously, digging into her pockets and waving a pair of brown gloves. Inside Athrun though he heard the sound of stifled laughter, and a snort.

"Yeah... oh by the way, Merry Christmas." He smiled.

"Oh yeah, you too. Definitely." She nodded hurriedly. Athrun looked around awkwardly for a while, before turning around to walk deeper into the yard. Gently, he heard the sound of footsteps follow him, music to his ears.

"How's your night been? Great job with the performance, by the way." He added genuinely.

"Good I guess. And you too." She replied softly, studying the way the snow fell.

"Where's Derek?" Athrun asked, dusting the snow of his left shoulder, trying to act ambivalent.

"Inside... he wouldn't let me kiss him." Cagalli laughed feeling the cold start to seep through her relatively thin jacket. Her companion regarded her with confusion.

"Odd... I thought he liked you."

"Well... Meer likes you too, doesn't she?"

Athrun nodded in acknowledgement of her point. "So then... Did you want to?"

"Hm?"

"Kiss him I mean?"

"Uh, well that's-." Cagalli blushed furiously.

"Hey... would that have been your first kiss?" Athrun's probed, a tone of amusement evident in his voice.

"MOST-MOST CERTAINLY-"

"Yes?"

"No! I... I have kissed before!"

"A guy? Other then your family? Romantically?" Athrun pressed on, taking great pleasure in the increasingly red color of her face and ears.

He was answered with a snowball to the face.

Wiping the slush out of his eyes, he blinked as his vision restored and he saw a very determined and stubborn looking Cagalli, tossing another packed snowball up and down in her right hand.

"Shut up." She pouted. Athrun grinned, then rushed forward, catching her off guard and scooping up a handful of snow to throw at her.

Shrieking with glee, Cagalli pelted his left arm, then ran to get more snow. And the two continued like so for almost half an hour, by which time they were both thoroughly soaked, with frozen skin but warm blood circulating inside.

Cagalli was positively glowing, as she peeled off her wet gloves and grinned.

"I better go inside to find a change of clothes." She laughed, about to step back in. Athrun nodded and was about to follow when it hit him.

Outside, it was them. Just them. Inside, was everyone else.

"Cagalli!" Athrun called out. As difficult as this would be to do, and as many other possibilities as they were... Just none of the seemed right. Nothing else sat well with the general area of his chest, which constricted his breathing every time he tried to rationalize letting her go in this moment.

Cagalli turned to him and his chest stopped hurting... and his heart stopped beating. Damn.

"Yeah?" She responded. Her eyes were inquisitive, yet somewhere else inside them he saw another feeling. And hoped to whatever higher being was watching over him, to let that be anticipation...

* * *

She felt pretty stupid standing there, about to walk back into the house, half turned so she could face the man that had trapped her in her footsteps. Who... wasn't doing anything but stare at her. 

Suddenly, the cold ceased to exist as her cheeks turned red for an entirely different reason.

"Are you cold?" He asked, briskly walking towards her and shrugging off his coat.

"Eh? No, why?"

"You cheeks are-"

"My cheeks are perfectly fine!"

"...They look red."

"No I just... Hey weren't you about to say something?" She looked away, quickly trying to change the topic. Athrun blinked, and his face turned a similar color.

Taking a deep breath, he turned away for a moment to gather his thoughts. Clenching his fists, he whiled around suddenly again to face the raised eyebrows of the woman he...

"Cagalli," Athrun started. "A-a while ago, on a cold and windy night I told you that you mattered to me. And that's true... But what I didn't finish saying was that you matter...

The words died in his throat again as he gazed into her widening amber mirrors. Inside them he could see surprise, anticipation, and the reflection of a hopelessly tongue-tied man, facing the future of everything he cared about. Swallowing hard in a vain attempt to dislodge the lump that was suppressing his words, he drew in a long icy breath and held it, before finally letting it out. Along with the words...

"More than I ever thought possible."

Cagalli blink in mild confusion, momentarily washing the mirror with fathering tears of some emotion she hadn't figured out. Yet...

"Cagalli, you matter to me, not only more than anyone else I've ever met before, but more than I ever thought I could ever care about someone. The way you can find the smile in me, no matter how many dark clouds are hiding it. The way you always seem energetic, even when you're having a bad day. Ever since the day I met you, I have been... fascinated, intrigued, and utterly captivated by what I can only describe as... you."

A pause...

* * *

Inside the house, four eager spectators had lined the windows with their ears pressed to the glass. 

"Sshh!"

"I can't hear anything..."

"That's because you're talking!"

"So are you!"

"Just shut up!"

* * *

Cagalli stared. Somewhere in-between his flowery words was a feeling so strong that even she could feel it... or maybe she had felt it all along. Maybe this force that pushed drew her towards him... was just something mutual from the start. 

Moving towards him, she raised her hand to touch his red cheek and feel whether or not it was cold, and my some strange magnetism found herself pulled towards him. Of course, physically it was probably just his arms that had found their way snugly around her waist, but emotionally, before she realized it, they had connected, sending electric jolts running through her.

Athrun passed for a moment. What on earth had he just said? In all actuality, it had just popped out of his mouth. But at the same time, it was true. For the first time, his brain had stopped talking...

And his mouth had never spoken truer words.

Tugging her advancing figure towards him, he dropped his lips promptly and happily onto hers, smiles still clearly worn on their faces.

Inside, the four faces were also beaming happily, with two people clapping and "awwww"-ing, and the other two nodding contentedly.

Breaking suddenly, Athrun noticed their small audience, the putting his arm around her, led Cagalli away from view. He was silent for a while, merely studying her face, and how the snow decorated her hair. He never removed his arms, and she never complained. Leaning into him a bit, she smiled.

"Damn you... You take too long. You know I'm not a patient person." She said in mock annoyance. Athrun laughed, and nuzzled her heat against his shoulder affectionately.

"My bad... It was just... hard."

"Harder than you expected?"

Athrun thought a moment. "Easier than I expected, hard to build up the courage to start. But it's been the truth for a long time now."

Cagalli's face lit up in response to the sound heard by her ears. Sighing a bit, she looked away for a moment.

"Well, I shouldn't be one to talk. I didn't really do much either did I?... But you know, from waiting on you, to waiting for you, you've never seemed to bore me, I've never really been able to stop myself from being drawn to you... Any ideas?"

"It's a miracle." Athrun grinned jokingly.

Cagalli mockingly glared at him, and pelted another snowball at his arm. "No... It's not a miracle. It's just... you." Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tightly

.And the snow kept falling...

* * *

**Well folks, with this concludes "Waiting On You." I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I had fun writing it. This chapter was kind of tricky because I know what I wanted as an ending, but I didn't want it to be all serious and fluff. Also, I had way too much to cover. For any loose threads, that's why I have an epilogue. **

**Thank you to all who reviewed last chapter. Something must have happened with the system since I didn't get any of them for a very long time. If you never received a reply, I'm dreadfully sorry, and I'll try to get to it as soon as possible. **

**However, I do have a list of all the wonderful people who reviewed last chapter. I couldn't have asked for a more responsive and encouraging group of people:**

**Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, FreedomElf, kura52, The Angels' Princess, The Nilaga Lover, CelicaChick, daisukechibi, celestial-angel40, Kintora, Eternally Asuka, AnimexMusica, oi.kodomo, ichigo kagura, Princess Ashes, asucags, Athrun-n-Cagalli, lil kagome 13, thousandbirds, ANONYMOUS-gsd, asga, IYGU, MXC - the show- rocks my so..., gseedlover, koali alolao, KiraFreedom, CaffiendNeko, animemistress419, ZBoi, Kandida, astrocosmos, XxbuffyxX, stuntsheep, Moonee, cloudy mind, animeluver461, Yukimi noh Daiomoru, Maryam Khanoom, ANONYMOUS**

**Also, thank you to any people who haven't reviewed but still kept on following this story! Wish I could have heard from you, but nevertheless, I appreciate your interest. **

**Happy holidays to all, and I hope you have a great New Year! **

**Best wishes,**

**Periodic-Prose**


	16. Epilogue: Resolutions

**Once more, I have to apologize for the horrendously long break in updates. I've been trying to deal with a case of plagiarism, ironically of this very fic. How can I identify it as plagiarism?... Well, I can recognize my own writing well enough. Especially if the title of the fic, and the summary are nearly identical. **

**Though I don't mean to be rude, I was in a few words, shocked, disappointed and pretty darn pissed. I really do appreciate and love all the encouragement I get from readers, and to see someone ripping off my ideas, and even my writing, then not even credit me in the slightest is well… discouraging to say the least. However, the fact that someone actually notified me about it was really very touching, so it's great to see such support too.**

**On a lighter note (Sorry for the semi-rant everyone!), I proudly present, the Epilogue to "Waiting On You".**

* * *

_List of New Year's Resolutions_

'_Spend more time with Lacus'_

Kira wrote carefully on the first line, then leaned back proudly and admired his resolution. Three other heads peered over his shoulder to study what he had written.

"...Is that even possible? You'd have to surgically attach yourself or something." Cagalli raised an eyebrow skeptically. She removed the half of a blueberry candy cane from her mouth and licked her lips. Ever since her brother had returned form France he had been hanging around his girlfriend like a shadow. In his words he was just 'making up for lost time'.

Currently the four were sitting in the middle of Lacus' living room, chowing down on a glass bowl of discount Christmas candy and making up new resolutions. Currently they had already gone through half a package of butter toffee, two packs of candy canes, and a lot of chocolate Santas. The stuff wasn't bad, or expired. It was just past the holiday season, so everything was cheaper.

Kira swallowed a bite of chocolate, then frowned at his sister's sarcasm. "It's not that bad... You're just disappointed about how you can't spend more time with Athrun." He finished with a tease, confident that his comment would change the current subject at hand. Cagalli gulped.

"Don't try to change the topic!" She protested, hoping the redness of her cheeks could pass for anger.

"You're trying to do the same thing!" Kira shot back stubbornly, arms folded across his chest.

"Like brother, like sister." Athrun sighed. "All right, assuming Lacus doesn't mind..." he paused for a moment, shooting a glace at Lacus, who responded with a smile, "That resolution is fine. Now whose turn is it?"

"I'll do it!" Cagalli chirped enthusiastically, raising her hand like and over eager child at school. She dived for the pen, then attacked the paper, quickly scribbling

_'To get a job.' _

Pausing for a moment, she studied the words, then quickly scribbled them out.

"I don't need a year for that..." She frowned, relieved that she had made the letters completely illegible by the time anyone else had even reacted. She paused for a moment to think again, tapping the pen against her bottom lip.

"Need help thinking of one?" Lacus asked thoughtfully. "We can help you think of something."

"I'm telling you... Spend more time with Athrun!" Kira teased again, flopping back onto a beige couch cushion. Cagalli blushed furiously and pelted him with a couch pillow, resulting in a yelp from the victim. The blonde stubbornly turned back towards the paper while Athrun pretended to cough while secretly hiding his face until it returned to it's normal color.

"Fine! I've got it!" Cagalli called out triumphantly, scribbling words furiously with determination.

'_To drink less coffee.'_

Once more, thee head hovered over the paper, studying the freshly written words.

"You've got to be kidding me... That's inhuman." Athrun gaped. The boy lived off coffee, so the idea of someone wanting to cut back was simply unfathomable.

"Well, now that you don't work at a cafe, I'm sure it will be much easier." Lacus encouraged. She paused before a mischievous smile crept up. "But I think I liked the 'spending time with Athrun' one more."

Kira blinked and grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "See? Told you guys."

The newly formed couple hid their faces again, this time in velvet throw-pillows.

"I need to cut back my caffeine intake…" Cagalli explained, her voice slightly muffled. "Coffee stunts your growth. And Athrun's already a half head taller than me." She kept her head firmly planted in the pillow, as her cheeks burned at her confession. Athrun raised his head and smiled, putting an arm comfortably around her shoulders, and leaning his head on hers sympathetically.

"At your age Cagalli, you're not going to grow anymore."

She pushed his head off hers, turned a stubborn face towards him and pouted. "Says you."

Lacus laughed. "All right people, now it's my turn. Originally mine was to get you two together, but that's already done. Then I was thinking about helping Meer find a guy, but then she up and started dating Derek." She thought aloud. Athrun and Cagalli both turned to stare.

"Really? Meer and Derek?" They asked simultaneously, both in equal shock.

Lacus nodded. "They make a surprisingly cute couple, since both of them are so outgoing. Anyways, moving along now: Then I thought about spending time with Kira, but his already covered that, so... Oh I know!"

Snatching up the pen, she lifted it happily and scrawled in elegant handwriting,

_"To watch at least 300 new movies."_

The other three people present read it, blinked, then read it over again and exclaimed,

"THREE HUNDRED!"

Lacus nodded firmly. "That's less than one a week, and totally feasible."

"Happy watching." Athrun slapped Kira on the back. Kira shrugged indifferently.

"That's fine. I'm up for it."

Finally, the pen was passed to Athrun. He regarded the sheet of paper for a moment, then quickly wrote down:

_"To work hard and develop the company, while still balancing the rest of my life."_

Pausing for a moment, he quickly added something at the bottom right corner of the paper, then ripped off the piece. Three pairs of arms reached out to grab the scarred paper and one certain blonde tackled the offending indigo-hair boy to the ground.

"Athrun! What have you done!" Cagalli cried out. Kira pointed an accusing finger, while Lacus searched her bag for tape.

"Sorry guys, that one's secret." Athrun shrugged. Leaning forward again, he signed his name at the bottom, then handed the pen and paper to everyone else to sign. Cagalli and Kira signed, bitterly eyeing the missing corner. Lacus regarded the tape in her hand for a

moment, before reluctantly signing the sheet. Taking the paper, she walked over to her fridge and stuck it near the top with a refrigerator magnet that looked like a slice of Swiss cheese.

"So then... Happy New Year guys." Athrun smiled, looking around. Three heads nodded back contently.

* * *

Athrun and Cagalli strolled lazily through the snow, taking their time as they watched it fall. Veering away from the streets, where cheers erupted from bars and parties, they found themselves once more, taking a shortcut through the park. Kira had decided to get an early start on his resolution and was staying over at Lacus', and so Athrun was

walking back to Cagalli's apartment.

"Think you'll hold to your resolution?" Cagalli teased, making small talk.

"I'll try." Athrun shrugged. "Personally I think you'll have a harder time." he grinned.

Cagalli frowned. "See, that's your problem. No faith." She shook her head teasingly, before stopping to raise her hands, letting the falling snow pile on her mittens for a bit, then reaching down to scoop up a snowball and pelt it at her boyfriend's smirking face. It missed and hit his right shoulder. Athrun faked a wounded expression.

"I'm just saying, coffee is a hard thing to get over." He shrugged, brushing off the leftover snow clumps.

"I didn't say I was going to stop drinking. I said I was going to cut back." Cagalli explained, carefully noting the difference. Athrun raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"So then... what's that cut back relative to?"

"When I was a waitress at the cafe, and drank like four cups a day." She grinned. "See? I told you mine would be easier."

He chuckled softly. "Well in that case, probably. My resolution all depends."

"You working hard depends on something other then yourself?" Cagalli remarked skeptically.

"No, not that one. The other one." He explained.

"Oh... Well what does that one depend on?"

Athrun started digging in his coat pocket, before carefully reproducing the torn corner. He handed it to Cagalli's eager hands, then jerked his hand back playfully. "Take off those wet mittens. I don't want this one to get wet. It's important."

Cagalli frowned, but curiosity overtook her and she complied. Dusting off the soggy mittens and quickly pocketing them, she snatched the paper out of his hand, and eagerly read the words.

Written on the bottom line, very neatly and plainly were seven words:

* * *

Kira tossed another blanket over Lacus' sleeping figure, then knelt down to eye level to study her face. It was calm…. Ridiculously calm. He toyed with a rogue strand of hair that had slipped out in front of her, before carefully tucking it behind her ear.

All in all, it had been quite a year. He had fulfilled last years resolution: To help Athrun find someone… Course that had happened in completely unexpected ways, and the fact that the person that Athrun "found" was his _sister…_ Well to be truthful there was a point in which he regretted his former resolution. A lot.

In fact, though half of Kira really did feel great watching Athrun and Cagalli in the snow of Christmas day…admittedly the other half wanted to burst outside and lecture Athrun on how a certain brother was going to tear him limb from limb if he ever did so much as make Cagalli's eyes water with the slightest amount of pain.

But then again, watching the smiling faces of those two and Lacus' excited reaction at the success of their matchmaking, he couldn't help but allow it. Besides if Athrun did try anything, knowing his sister, Cagalli would beat him to beating the living pulp out of Athrun anyways. So he could lecture/threaten/possibly maim Athrun, another day. In private.

As for his resolution, in a word, he felt 'happy' about it. At this point he was confident that nothing could make him happier. But even more so, he was overjoyed when Lacus didn't protest in the slightest, but rather admitted that she had the same thing in mind.

And now watching her sleeping face, the only thing Kira could think about… was what a great year it was going to be.

* * *

Cagalli stared blankly at the words, which were written so plainly in Athrun's slightly slanted, semi-messy and hurried, but still very elegant handwriting:

_"To see Cagalli, at least once a day."_

Her eyes widened before she thrust her arm backwards to hand back the paper. Athrun chuckled and re-pocketed it, before taking her arm and smiling.

"So, do you see what it depends on?"

"Whether or not... I let you huh?" She muttered, clearly flustered.

"Well yes, and also one more thing." He added tauntingly.

Again, curiosity got the better of her, and Cagalli looked up to study Athrun's face.

"Quit being so damn vague and just spit it out." She insisted, only becoming more frustrated as he started laughing.

"All right, fine. There's a new position opening at the company. Do you still need a job?"

Cagalli stared, worried that he might have seen her original resolution. Gradually her face began to fall a bit, and her eyes began to dim. "Yeah, of course. it's just that… I appreciate it. Really I do, but I can't help but feel like-"

"I'm taking pity on you?" Athrun finished knowingly. Cagalli nodded.

"I know you're concerned… and I appreciate your concern. But- But I can handle this on my own! The reason I told you, was because I needed to get it off my chest. I don't want you to feel bad for, and then fire some random person so that I can have a job." She argued firmly. "I just can't accept this position."

Athrun stared at her for a while, before breaking into a wide grin, then lapsing into a soft chuckle. Cagalli frowned and shoved him slightly more than playfully. He took a step backwards, before regaining his balance and continuing to laugh.

"You think I had to fire someone for this? My secretary's retiring… She's almost seventy. Believe me, she doesn't want to keep working." Athrun explained, shaking his head. His face softened a bit, his voice returning to a serious tone. "As for the pity, it's not that at all. I'm not doing this because I pity you. I want you to work with me, because I care about you."

For a moment, Cagalli had to turn away, a bit embarrassed that she had accused him of something like that… but also of course because one more he was confessing something to her and catching her completely off-guard so that she had no idea how to react, and oh lord, here comes the blushing….

"You'll earn enough to be back in school by the next term, and you can quit anytime you want." He assured, pretending not to notice the coloring on her cheeks... "You don't have to accept it, I just thought I'd throw the idea out, to see if maybe you were interested."

"But-"

"But what?"

"But... won't you feel awkward? Being in such close proximity on such a regular basis? Won't you... I don't know, get sick of me?"

Athrun blinked then broke into a gentle and earnest smile. "Would I feel awkward? Not at all. Being in close proximity? Nothing could make me happier. As for getting sick of you... You know that'll never happen."

Cagalli remained silent for a while. She eyed the ground, clearly doing some heavy thinking. Of course he wanted to help, but in some says it still felt like pity. In other ways, this seemed too good to be true. A good job that would allow her to be with Athrun… On a regular basis?

She broke into a wide grin, then enveloped him happily in a warm hug. Laughing, he fell backwards into the snow.

"I take that as a yes?" He tilted his head up to see her gleeful smile.

'What are you crazy? Of course that's a yes!" She confirmed. Rolling her glowing eyes, she punched his lightly on the arm as they stood up off the cold frosted ground and dusted themselves off.

"Not the most graceful snow angel." Athrun smiled, regarding the strange lopsided imprint they had made in the snow. "But it's still... beautiful? In its own way?"

"If you tilt you head and squint a little, it kind of looks like a lobster." Cagalli remarked, still holding onto him. Looking up at Athrun's face she smiled again.

"Happy New Year." She spoke softly.

"Of course." Athrun nodded. Leaning his head against hers, he smiled fondly.

"And many years to come…"

* * *

**So with this, my dear readers, I officially conclude "Waiting On You". Thank you for being such a supportive audience. Now for the traditionally (well, at least for me) long author's note. XP**

**A few final points on this fic. First of all, the classic, "Why the name"? For once I had the name from the very first chapter. This was going to be about Cagalli waiting on Athrun as a waitress, then towards the end the shift in now they interact, and it becoming more of a wait of emotions. I actually had her explicitly say this in the final chapter, so I'm hoping the title didn't seem too random.**

**Characters: Why on earth did Meer appear? Simple, I wanted to portray Meer in a positive light. If you don't like a character, fine, however exceedingly negative portrayal of characters is something that I've never really understood or supported. If you need an extreme antagonist, you can make one up. But using a character from the series can often give false impressions to people, especially to those that haven't seen Gundam SEED Destiny. At the VERY least, note that they will be out of character. So for once I wanted there to be something that put a good light on Meer. Not that I'm necessarily a fan of her either, but as a character she's much too under-credited.**

**Many of the reviews asked me if I was going to be making a sequel of some sort. At this point, once more, I'll have to say no. I'm hoping that this ending it conclusive enough for you guys to feel happy with it, but still leaves enough left for you guys totack onyour own ideas, thoughts, and wishes to.**

**That and personally, I don't like to drag on my stories for ever and ever because eventually I'm 100 sure that I'd be completely brain dead and have no original ideas left. XP**

**As for future stories, I confess I have absolutely no plans for anything in the future at this point. Certainly nothing has chapter-intensive as "Blush and Smile" or "Waiting On You". Other then a handful of potential one-shots, I don't really have anything lined up. This is definitely not an official retirement notice, since I'm still an avid shipper of Athrun&Cagalli, simply just a note to say that anything out of me in the future will probably be pretty sparse. Maybe not short… (Just look at the size of this Author Note. I'm in awe that any of you even _put up_ with my rambling), but sparse. **

**With that, I hope to hear from a lot of you guys in the future. Thank you so much to the following reviewers of the last chapter:**

**The Angels' Princess, KiraFreedom, AnimexMusica, CelicaChick, lil kagome 13, celestial-angel40, Princess Ashes, Chelsea, Nicole, gseedlover, Eternally Asuka, anna, cottongreentea, omi, Freyris, XxbuffyxX, Im Dinkus, thousandbirds, ichigo kagura, animemistress419, Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan, IGYU, astrocosmos, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, maDeeneR-, jenniferseedlover, oi.kodomo, Kitty-Kat90013820, FreedomElf, stuntsheep, ZBoi, ANONYMOUS, Yukimi noh Daiomoru, cloudy mind, koali alolao, cute.princess, animeluver461, asucags, Maryam Khanoom, Kandida.**

**Until next story,**

**The ever weird and babbling, **

**Periodic-Prose**


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